Always highly symbolic of our sense of nation, the English Channel today represents an ever-widening political chasm. On the one hand, Theresa May has pledged to honour the outcome of last year’s referendum and restore Britain’s role as an independent nation-state.

But in Paris on May 7, President Emmanuel Macron celebrated his election victory to the sound of the EU anthem, instead of the Marseillaise, and has subsequently advocated deeper EU integration.

What lies at the heart of these radically opposed visions? Answering this is paramount as clouds grow darker over the Brexit negotiations and political storms gather.

An important part of the answer is that it is much easier for the average Frenchman to surrender his sovereignty to Brussels than for his British counterpart. This is because our own institutions have deeper origins and therefore command a greater allegiance: they not only have a much longer ancestry but they are inseparable from our evolution as a nation.