IF it hadn’t been for Britain, the EU would never have come into existence.

If we hadn’t stood alone in 1940, Europe would have been united very differently.

5 Daniel Hannan is MEP for South East England Credit: PA Archive

If we hadn’t played our part in defending the West against Stalin, democracy might have been snuffed out across the continent.

We, of all people, need no lessons in being good Europeans.

Again and again we have been prepared to fight for the freedom of other nations.

Yet we’re now supposed to believe that we couldn’t thrive outside the EU. We, who set up free parliaments all over the world, are told we couldn’t make a success of things without the help of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and EU President Jean-Claude Juncker and his officials.

Right from the start, Remainers have had just one message, that Britain is too feeble to stand alone.

We are, in the words of the Europhile actress Emma Thompson: “A tiny little cloud-bolted, rainy corner of sort-of Europe, a cake-filled, misery-laden grey old island.”

5 Emma Thompson called England 'a tiny little cloud-bolted, rainy corner of sort-of Europe, a cake-filled, misery-laden grey old island' Credit: Getty Images - WireImage

Seriously, Emma? Tiny? In what sense? Economic might? Military power? Global reach? Geography?

What are the big, powerful islands, then? Borneo? Madagascar?

It’s this inferiority complex that we should vote to dispel tomorrow, this constant talking down of Britain.

After all, if we can’t run our own affairs, who the hell can?

We are the fifth largest economy in the world.

We are a nuclear state, with the fourth largest military budget on the planet and a seat on the UN Security Council.

We’re a leading member of the G7 and the G20, Nato and the Commonwealth.

We have the world’s best universities and most widely studied language.

Outside the EU, we can be more prosperous still.

We’ll be free to strike our own trade deals with Commonwealth allies such as India and Australia.

5 Angela Merkel has bagged Cameron's support in Europe Credit: Getty Images

5 We want to take back control of our taxes, our laws, our money, our borders, our democracy Credit: Getty Images

We’ll be able to cut fuel costs, making life easier for energy-intensive industries such as steel and plastics, cement and ceramics.

We can cut food bills, helping household budgets and boosting the whole economy.

Nowhere else in the world are countries expected to apologise for wanting to live under their own laws.

The New Zealanders aren’t rushing to join Australia, but we don’t say: “Look at those nasty Australo-sceptics, clinging to their out-dated dream of sovereignty on their tiny little cake-filled islands.”

The Japanese aren’t applying to join China, but we don’t say: “Why can’t you get over your empire, you bigoted Sino-sceptics on your misery-laden grey old islands?”

Nowhere else in the world are countries expected to apologise for wanting to live under their own laws

Everywhere else it’s taken for granted that countries can trade and co-operate with friends on every continent while making their own decisions.

Are we unable to do the same?

Voting to leave the EU doesn’t mean turning our backs on Europe.

We’ll still trade with our neighbours.

We’ll still be military allies.

Indeed, during this referendum, Britain has taken the decision to commit troops to the defence of Poland and Estonia, and rightly so.

These countries will still be our friends whether or not we are in the EU.

All we ask for is some powers back from Brussels.

We want to take back control of our taxes, our laws, our money, our borders, our democracy.

5 Britain has set up free parliaments all over the world Credit: Alamy

We want to be a good neighbour to the EU, not a bad tenant.

If David Cameron had been able to get a looser deal earlier this year, things would be very different.

The EU would have shown that it was prepared to listen.

But the PM’s requests — powers returned, limits on immigration, exemptions for our key industries — were thrown back in his face.

The EU can’t or won’t change.

The only way to get a better deal is to vote to leave.

The PM tells us we must vote for our children.

Well, that’s exactly what I’ll be doing.

Next month, my wife and I are expecting our third child.

Like all parents, I have dreams for that baby.

I want my children to live in a confident, independent country, engaged with every continent — including Europe.

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Above all, I want them to be able to hire and fire the people who pass our laws.

Being a nation means we are not just a random set of individuals born to a different random set of individuals.

Being a nation means we have a duty to keep intact the freedoms we were lucky enough to inherit from our parents and pass them on securely to our kids.

In 1944 my late father volunteered to defend, with force of arms, our right to live under our own laws and our own people.

I don’t want his grandchildren to lose that part of their birthright.

Our song is not yet sung.

We still have more to give.

Vote Leave tomorrow for a global Britain — prosperous, independent and free.

Daniel Hannan is MEP for South East England.