How Brexit could strengthen us

Amid all the bad news about Brexit - the lies on the bus, the shrinking economy, the paralysed opposition, we are prone to forget the benefits it is bringing us. I am talking about our understanding of the European Union. Politicians who have for years loftily ignored it are at last being forced to find out a bit about how it works. Large numbers of the population who had hardly heard of the EU before the referendum are gaining some glimmer of what it's all about.

So a nation for years isolated in its cocoon, benefiting from EU membership without giving it much thought, has had to stop taking everything for granted. Whatever the outcome, it will have been an education. And I would argue, there are two outcomes which might even strengthen us.

First, and most desirable in my opinion, would be an exit from Brexit before it happens. Fears are sometimes expressed that this would result in a furious backlash from angry Brexiters crying that they had been betrayed, but I am far from convinced. A resounding victory for Remain, with Britain welcomed back into a successful and flourishing European Union, would see many soft Leavers claiming they were Remainers all along, for everyone likes to be on the winning side.

And the result could indeed be resounding. The very prospect of reversing the Brexit folly, once firmly on the table as a realistic possibility, would encourage many dormant Remainers to emerge from their shells, and could make for a landslide victory for common sense. Britain, with its new-found expertise in confronting populism, would lead the EU in resolving problems in Poland and Hungary. In this scenario Johnson, Farage and the rest, far from organising a backlash, would be lucky not to be put on public trial.

However, history's judgement on them will not be unduly harsh if no Brexit takes place. If I drive my car carelessly and nothing happens, it is quickly forgotten, but if I kill or injure someone, it is a very different matter. For everyone's sake and especially the leaders of Brexit, the Brexit car crash should be avoided.

But if it can't be avoided, then surely this act of self harm should be done cleanly and properly. Do we really want to end up passively dependent on other European countries, unable to express our wishes? A fudged or soft Brexit is the worst of all worlds, which satisfies nobody. Remainers will resent losing their EU rights, while Leavers will feel that they have been stabbed in the back, their dreams betrayed. In other situations, compromise can be constructive, but not here. With Brexit, fudges can only breed grudges.

Which brings us to the second way the country could be strengthened - through a clean, hard Brexit. In this brave option we confront our worst fears, and there will be certain satisfactions. The older patriotic Briton revives his proud Battle of Britain spirit, the joy of sacrifice, the stiff upper lip, we will see it through. The comfortably-off lady in the shires, bored with her cosseted life, who voted Leave for a bit of excitement, gets her wish granted in full. Most important of all, the Brexiters have a fair crack of the whip. They can burn the regulations on their bonfire and start afresh. And if they succeed, good luck to them.

But if it all ends in tears, it will be for the upcoming generation to begin again. To re-apply to join the EU when the lessons have been thoroughly learnt, the hard way, by a Britain more sober than before. A chastened Britain, a wiser Britain, a poorer but less arrogant Britain, may contribute more in future than it can today.

* John King is a retired doctor and Remain campaigner.

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