It is no good offering people a ‘story to believe in’ if it ends in harm – but the Prime Minister does not know any other way, observes Jonathan Lis.

But as potential havoc draws near, May’s government seems to have its attention elsewhere. Burdened by their deliberations with Europe, key cabinet ministers are instead trying to woo support from Britain’s former colonies.

Brexit was caused partly by “nostalgia for the past” that served no purpose in politics, the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said.

The former prime minister warned that “complacency” and “nostalgia” are the routes to a national decline and that the UK’s global influence has relied upon history, fortified by membership of the EU and close ties to the US.

Having cut Britain adrift of Europe, Brexiters are indulging in an old fantasy about a new national role in the world—as the hub of a far-flung Anglosphere.