As we come now to the final months of the Brexit negotiations we are arriving, at last, at the moment of truth. It is not just that we must decide what kind of relationship we want with the EU.

We must decide who we are – whether we really believe in the importance of our democratic institutions.

We must decide whether we have the guts to fulfil the instruction of the people – to leave the EU and truly take back control of our laws and our lives.

The next few weeks are critical. If we continue on the current path we will, I am afraid, betray centuries of progress.

From the development of parliamentary democracy to the industrial revolution the British have been first movers. They have been most willing to challenge received wisdom, to expose vested interests and to put their leaders to the test.

So in June 2016 it was no surprise that they voted to leave the EU - because they had a clear insight into the way that institution works and its manifest flaws.

They saw a body that has evolved far beyond the “Common Market” they were invited to join, a superstate with no real democratic control. The British were told that it was politically essential for them to stay in the EU; and yet they saw an institution that responds to every problem with a call for more integration – to the point where it now has five presidents and plans for at least one of them to be directly elected by the entire population of the EU, hardly any of whom will properly understand who that person is or what he or she is doing.