‘EU result showed our yearning to be a sovereign country again’

THE occasion was momentous, the verdict historic. Exactly 10 years ago today the British people voted by a decisive margin for the return of our independence after more than four decades of rule by the unaccountable, unelected bureaucracy in Brussels.

- LEO McKINSTRY

What the outcome of the EU Referendum in June 2016 clearly showed was a collective yearning for Britain to be a sovereign country once more, not a regional province of a sclerotic empire.

It was a feeling captured in the Leave campaigners' slogan "Take Back Control", which exuded an uplifting sense of confidence about Britain's capacity for self-governance. The same patriotism shone through this paper, long renowned as a compelling voice in support of great national causes.

Guided by its brilliant political editor, the late Patrick O'Flynn, the Express became the first British paper to advocate withdrawal from the European Union.

In contrast to this optimism, the Remain campaign was desperately negative, warning Britain would struggle on its own outside the protective embrace of the EU. Prime Minister David Cameron even claimed Brexit would be like "putting a bomb under the economy".

Project Fear was a failure. With heroic defiance, the majority of voters refused to be intimidated. So when Boris Johnson declared on the eve of polling at the close of the final televised debate that "tomorrow will be our independence day", he struck a chord with the public and helped to cement Leave's remarkable triumph.

But soon after the result, disillusion set in, sedulously cultivated by the cynical Remain lobby, which has been determined to thwart the decision of the ballot box.

If the Remainers had acted like true democrats, accepted the vote and joined in a great national endeavour to exploit the new opportunities provided by Britain's liberation, then Brexit could have been a roaring success.