There's nothing patriotic about Brexit - it's not in the UK's interest

The then UKIP leader Nigel Farage passes the Houses of Parliament in London - Credit: PA Archive/PA Images

It would seem that one of the scapegoats being prepared for when Brexit fails are Remainers who refuse to ‘get behind Brexit’.

How one is supposed to support a vacuum is beyond me. Brexit is by definition a negative, dismantling process; there is nothing there of substance to support, even if one wanted to.

It’s akin to being asked to admire the open wasteland of a former much loved building shortly after the wrecking ball has done its job, or to stand on the pavement waving a sandcastle paper Union Jack as the bare flatbed Brexit lorry trundles past. ‘A lack of patriotism’ on the part of Remainers is a consequent accusation that rankles.

We are not in essence being asked to support our country and its best interests, but rather to show antipathy towards our EU neighbours and soon-to-be former colleagues and partners. The Leave lobby measures patriotism by the volume of abuse and invective hurled at fellow Europeans and friends; and I for one will not succumb to this denigrating behaviour. As Voltaire said: ‘It is lamentable, that in order to be a good patriot one must become an enemy of the rest of mankind’.

Richard Surr

Redditch

• This letter was originally submitted to The New European in January 2018.

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