Exceptionalism

Despite its woes, Greece wants to remain in the EU. Russia fomented civil war in the Ukraine fearing their neighbour was heading for EU membership. Ukraine would have joined a throng of Eastern European countries already in the EU - enlargement to the east was something that the UK strongly backed. Most UK MPs backed Remain. Scotland and Northern Ireland voted for Remain. London and businesses voted Remain.

However we are now told that we will be better without the EU. Leaving aside sovereignty and 'control of our borders', both of which we already had, the third argument is economic. We will take a hit to start with, but then we will be able to make trade agreements unfettered by the EU.

These agreements will have to be quite impressive if they are to beat our current deal - tariff-free access to one of the world's largest market. Not only tariff-free but also free of non-tariff barriers. No customs inspections means no delays during transport, while a harmonised market means that whatever we produce can be sold directly into EU markets without any extra cost - with no extra safety testing, no extra labelling, and so on.

So how is it that some politicians believe we are an exception? That we can go it alone with more success than working in a team? Their claim is founded on a rosy view of the British Empire, in two ways. The empire in itself shows how brilliant the British are at trade, while its successor, the Commonwealth, is a huge market whose members will rush to trade with us if only we would let them.

Only 10% of our exports go to Commonwealth countries, compared to 44% going to the EU. So we will have to be as nice as we can to potential partners. Mr Hammond has even said we will need to rely on the generosity of other nations when we deal with them.

So what do our ex-colonies want in return? Err..., easy immigration.

Trade or strong borders? Hmm, haven't we been here before? I feel a referendum coming on.