I want to take you to a land, not so far away. Close your eyes and think of England after Brexit. We had the referendum and the unthinkable has happened, the UK voted to leave the EU.

The world's largest single market, the biggest generator of science and technological innovation, the birthplace of languages and cultures that populate the world.

But we are no longer part of this. Out. Just think about it

Think. I run a small business that used to export small machines to Germany and import components from Spain. It's no longer as easy as picking up the phone and ordering. Paperwork needs to be completed for imports, licences for exports, tariffs that apply one day may not the next, taxes on imports and exchange rates.

My workers came from anywhere in the EU, as well as the Brits, they came from France and Sweden, but they need visas now. Will they bother to come, or stay in the EU where they don't need to bother with visas. Rubbing their hands are my competitors in France who don't have to comply with all these extra rules and who have been waiting for this happy day when the competition from the UK has gone.

What a crazy idea it was to think we were better out!

Think. I am a fruit farmer. Not all farmers are big fans of the Common Agricultural Policy and some of its bureaucracy But without it, Im losing the subsidies that kept me in business.

I'm finding it difficult to find workers to pick fruit too, no more European migrants! fruit left rotting.
How am I going to compete with the subsidised farmers of the EU, I used to send all my apples to Berlin, they've got tariffs on now, and the regulations keep coming, but I don't have anyone to help address my needs when in the decision making processes in Brussels anymore.

Think. I am a pensioner living in Spain, one of thousands of Brits who chose to spend the rest of my life in the sun. I used to have the right to settle anywhere in the EU and receive my UK state pension, I couldn't be discriminated against or taxed mores than the locals in the shops or local property taxes, I had access to local health services too.

I don't feel welcome here anymore.

I think I, and the other 2 million of us had better get back home to the UK, the NHS will look after us, won't it?
I wish I had been able to vote in the referendum, I would have said stay in!

Think. I am a student, setting out on life, looking at my options. I used to have the right to work and study anywhere in the EU, with access to any university at the local fee (still free and taught in English in many countries).

Last year over 14.5k British students took part in Erasmus schemes which gave us the opportunity to study and train anywhere in Europe, that funding is in doubt now as the goodwill has gone - along with EU postgrad funding schemes and research grants.

My professor has just in time relocated to Paris, along with loads of others. They know their funding will be secure there. The university is really struggling to get good tutors now.

Being in the EU gave me access to simply travel and settle elsewhere. That's gone now.

Wish we could change our mind.

Think, I am a victim of human trafficking. I wish the UK was still in the EU.

I used to have the right to be treated as a victim, but since the UK left the police are finding it hard to prosecute my trafficker, they can't easily send him back. Because the European Arrest Warrant no longer applies here, Criminal gangs are flooding to London we are getting the reputation of being Crime Britain, not Great Britain.

Before we left the EU, victims like me were helped back home, but now it's a long process and I am in limbo. And Europol and its Internal Security Fund helped track down all sorts of criminals. Now the police's hands are tied.
I wish the UK hadn't left the EU.

Think. I am a factory worker. I make cars that use parts from all over the EU.

Those cars are designed to fit with the European market regulations, but our government no longer has any say in those regulations, those or any other regulations, from banking to medicines, from tyre safety to air quality.

We just have to comply with whatever Europe says, or not sell there. Such a pity we hate not having a say in design regulations.
My company is also relocating to Italy, as staying here no longer automatically gives access to the single market.

Not only am I facing redundancy, but if I keep my job I can't be sure of the protection to holiday pay, social rights, maternity pay and other working rights that the EU single market gave me.

Sure my boss will now face more competition outside the single market, but if he stays here the one sure way he can cut costs will be to reduce my working rights.

Oh I wish we hadn't voted to leave the EU!

Well let's think about that new land.

Think about what the country will be like out of all those benefits and involvement with our neighbours.

Let's not go to that new land. We don't actually have to.

Catherine Bearder is a Lib Dem MEP. This article is syndicated from LibDem Voice