Like most of us last week I watched what was happening in parliament with despair. The fact that Britain has become a laughing stock across the globe is both embarrassing and annoying. But I also object to so-called Brexit supporters draping themselves in the Union flag and claiming that if you don't support Brexit you are being unpatriotic. "Believe in Britain" is their war cry, "we want our country back".
One of the reasons why I believe that Britain is making a mistake leaving the European Union is because I do believe in Britain. The transformation the country has undergone over the last thirty years has been nothing short of a minor miracle. Britain lost its industrial base in the 1960s and 1970s; industrial action and poor management led to a meltdown in British engineering and manufacturing. The German media dubbed Britain the "English patient" because of its industrial woes. But Britain found a way forward through financial services. The derelict London docks of the 1980s were a telling reminder of Britain's fall from grace. If you visit the area now it is a different story; new offices blocks, new flats, it is urban renewal at its best.
Before Britain embarked on the Brexit madness, the British economy was the fifth biggest in the world, with little unemployment and stable government. Not bad for a country which produces little. But I fear that all this has been put at risk because of a misguided view that Britain could do better alone than standing with its European colleagues. Believe in Britain? Yes I do, but I want a return to the security and economic growth of pre-Brexit.