Brexit is the greatest fraud perpetrated on this country since Tony Blair’s Iraq dossier. It was predicated on presumptions – and on Wednesday night it was legitimised by deceit.

MPs who voted to remain in the EU in June queued up to give Theresa May carte blanche to trigger Article 50, which sets us on an irreversible course of self-destruction. The only honourable justification for MPs who hitherto vehemently believed remaining in the EU was in the country’s best interests not opposing Theresa May’s bill would be if they had been persuaded that the opposite is true. Instead they all hid behind the vapid Ukip mantra – the so called “will of the people”.

The idea of being driven to economic ruin (for which the poor will pay) for political expediency is, in my view, an act of constitutional vandalism. Worse still, it flies in the face of the emerging evidence indicating the "will of the people" has changed since June.

How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Show all 8 1 /8 How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Weetabix Chief executive of Weetabix Giles Turrell has warned that the price of one of the nation’s favourite breakfast are likely to go up this year by low-single digits in percentage terms. Reuters How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Nescafé The cost of a 100g jar of Nescafé Original at Sainsbury’s has gone up 40p from £2.75 to £3.15 – a 14 per cent rise—since the Brexit vote. PA How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Freddo When contacted by The Independent this month, a Mondelez spokesperson declined to discuss specific brands but confirmed that there would be "selective" price increases across its range despite the American multi-national confectionery giant reporting profits of $548m (£450m) in its last three-month financial period. Mondelez, which bought Cadbury in 2010, said rising commodity costs combined with the slump in the value of the pound had made its products more expensive to make. Cadbury How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Mr Kipling cakes Premier Foods, the maker of Mr Kipling and Bisto gravy, said that it was considering price rises on a case-by-case basis Reuters How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Walkers Crisps Walkers, owned by US giant PepsiCo, said "the weakened value of the pound" is affecting the import cost of some of its materials. A Walkers spokesman told the Press Association that a 32g standard bag was set to increase from 50p to 55p, and the larger grab bag from 75p to 80p. Getty How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Marmite Tesco removed Marmite and other Unilever household brand from its website last October, after the manufacturer tried to raise its prices by about 10 per cent owing to sterling’s slump. Tesco and Unilever resolved their argument, but the price of Marmite has increased in UK supermarkets with the grocer reporting a 250g jar of Marmite will now cost Morrisons’ customers £2.64 - an increase of 12.5 per cent. Rex How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Toblerone Toblerone came under fire in November after it increased the space between the distinctive triangles of its bars. Mondelez International, the company which makes the product, said the change was made due to price rises in recent months. Pixabay How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Maltesers Maltesers, billed as the “lighter way to enjoy chocolate”, have also shrunk in size. Mars, which owns the brand, has reduced its pouch weight by 15 per cent. Mars said rising costs mean it had to make the unenviable decision between increasing its prices or reducing the weight of its Malteser packs. iStockphoto

Professor Adrian Low of Staffordshire University has analysed the result of 13 polls since the Brexit vote in June, all of which ask variations on the question, “would you vote the same way again?" A staggering 11 of the 13 polls show that, were there to be a second vote, Remain would produce a decisive victory. While the Remain vote held firm statistically, a significant number of people who voted Leave would now change their vote.

In December, the West Midlands Express & Star newspaper published the following headline: "We DON’T want out anymore: shock poll reveals Express & Star readers have changed their minds". When asked before the referendum how they would vote, 80 per cent of readers voted Leave and 16 per cent Remain. When asked the same question in December, an incredible 62 per cent chose to remain with only 37 per cent saying they would now vote to leave.

The Express & Star said that it was the biggest survey the local paper had ever carried out, with 10,000 respondents.

John Bercow welcomes MP's baby into Commons for Brexit Bill vote

So, why have so many people changed their mind, and why was the Brexit vote so fraudulent?

First, it traded in “alternative facts”, or lies. Most notably the promise of £350m a week to the NHS, which was rescinded as soon as the vote was in. Families in my community have fallen out because older members admitted they voted Leave believing the NHS would get the promised cash. The younger ones feel betrayed by their parents and grandparents and the parents and grandparents feel betrayed by the politicians who deceived them.

Second, while the turnout for the election was 72 per cent of the electorate, with Leave winning by 51.9 per cent, this only equates to 37 per cent of the electorate when we include those who did not vote but were eligible to. This is not a representative or legitimate outcome. The referendum also did not require a supermajority (or two-thirds of the vote) which is the norm when the outcome involves major constitutional change.

Furthermore, in the wake of the Brexit win, a significant number of those who voted Leave told the media they regretted it, or didn’t understand it, or thought it could be reversed at the next election, or that they did it as a protest against austerity and the Tories.

An irate local farmer told me he voted to leave as a protest against EU bureaucracy that delayed payments of his subsidies. When I pointed out that Defra was responsible for the delays, he said, “That’s right!”. He thought Defra was an EU department. He didn’t realise it was Britain’s Department for Rural Affairs and that the EU had fined our governmental department for its incompetent administration of subsidies. No matter, we got our country back, even if it means losing the subsidies and keeping the incompetence.

British farmers received £2.4bn last year in EU payments and the National Farrmers’ Union has already warned that many farms would fail without these handouts.

Importantly, EU membership already has built-in border controls under the “right to reside” test. This provides conditions to entry, such as having a job or being financially self-sufficient. There are no immediate, automatic entitlements to benefits, which require further conditions. Most other EU states impose these controls rigorously but the UK has been less assiduous in their implementation.

There was no mandate to leave the single market, sell off the NHS to US private health insurers or to turn the UK into a tax haven. Brexit has divided the nation. For Theresa May to unite the country she must heal wounds and take the public with her.