🚨 Michael Heseltine, “We must create a kind of United States of Europe. ⏰ This is an important historical reminder, Churchill’s vision after WW2 was that European nations had to find ways to bind themselves together so that nationalism, rivalry and the cycles of war that devastated the continent would not return. Heseltine is right, Brexit is a reversal of that post-war understanding: a retreat from collective European strength at a moment when the world is once again becoming more dangerous. “Project Fear has become Project Here.” The warnings about trade friction, reduced investment, barriers with our largest market and economic costs were dismissed as “scaremongering”, but those concerns are now reality pulling Britain into decline. On political accountability, Heseltine asks: where are the people who promised the benefits of Brexit now celebrating its success? If the promises had been fulfilled: lower migration, stronger growth, less bureaucracy, a more powerful Britain, one might expect the architects of the project to be loudly claiming victory. His final point: democracy is not a single frozen moment in 2016. The generations who will live longest with the consequences have the same democratic right to assess the outcome and decide their future direction. Whatever one’s view of Brexit, how can a medium-sized European country maintain prosperity, influence and security in a world increasingly shaped by continental-sized powers and geopolitical competition.

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