Brexit sent me into a pit of rage. I now know we can never return to the EU

Leaving was a mistake but rejoining would be difficult and divisive. Instead we must forge ties with Europe — and with each other

- Anthony Seldon

The EU referendum was one of the most consequential events in modern British history. We all have memories of hearing the news.

On polling day, I was walking through a forest north of Verdun in France and stumbled across a remote village détruit, shafts of sunlight piercing through the leaves to illuminate the shattered stones that were once homes.

Messages from No 10 said it was still on track. “Close, but it'll be fine.” Reassured, I pressed on, every single step I took representing 100 French or German casualties from the battle there in 1916. It was as if they were warning us today that Europe, to avoid further bloodshed and with nationalism again on the rise, needed to remain partners in perpetuity.

I was scouting out a trail along the old front lines of the first world war to fulfil a soldier’s dream to establish a path of peace after the war. He wanted people from all nations to walk it to remind them that what they shared in common was greater than what divided them. Never again! The soldier with the vision was killed months after writing it down. A hundred years on, here I was picking up his baton and trying to make his dream of a permanent “path of peace” across Europe a reality.