Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

The last few days in the UK have been filled with what seems like endless turmoil over Brexit , with the latest defeat of the government's plan, a vote against leaving without a deal, a prime minister who is barely able to speak, cabinet ministers voting against the government, an opposition peddling fantasy solutions, and a few MPs making it painfully obvious they are without the slightest clue over what is happening.I could have said this at any point during the past several months, or the last two years, if you exclude the votes. Since the referendum on June 23, 2016, or, since it was first agreed upon, the UK has been divided between Brexiteers and Remainers.The vote went 52-48 in favor of an exit, and that narrowness was replicated in the UK's constituent parts. England and Wales voted to leave, while Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to stay.The result was mirrored in the constituency where I was born and raised. Moray, in Northeast Scotland, voted by 50.1-48.9 percent to remain (an unusually close result for Scotland, which voted 62-38 percent overall to remain).As for myself, I am a Remainer, however most of my family support Brexit. This is largely down to the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), an EU plan to conserve fish reserves. Moray has multiple ports, and CFP boats have limited fishing days with strict quotas on several fish species. Once the quota is reached, fish are returned to the sea whether alive or dead. For fishermen, such an act is akin to burning money. Hence, the EU is more unpopular in Moray than it is throughout Scotland.I think the EU is generally a good thing. The single market is the biggest market in the world. People can work and travel freely from Cyprus to Ireland. We need supranational institutions to handle international issues. During this time of integrated economies, it makes sense to have a body which can govern them. The EU is not solely about the economy but also includes integrating economies to ensure peace through prosperity and collaboration, and political benefits from economic means.I am capable of seeing the other side of the debate. The EU feels remote, and its inner-workings come across as opaque. European Parliament members have little genuine power, making its democratic basis somewhat of a joke.Freedom of movement can perhaps feel scary for towns and villages long accustomed to settled populations. Cities are used to changes and multicultural influences, and most city dwellers voted against Brexit.I can appreciate the pain inflicted by the CFP, though UK fishing, to put it in context, generates 1.4 billion pound ($1.86 billion) annually, which is less than 0.5 percent of GDP and employs 24,000, making it as consequential to the national economy as one high street retail chain.It must be galling to work so hard only to throw what you have caught back to the sea. I do not doubt that only an international institution can handle a matter which moves across domestic borders. The EU does not represent itself well nor does it trumpet their successes, and for over 30 years it has been a bogeyman for a few British media outlets.Since the Remain side lost the referendum, as a Democrat, I believe Brexit should move forward. It is clear the Leave campaign was based on lies, with campaign funding rules broken, and no Parliament majority for any actual form of Brexit.Most are resigned to Brexit, in one way or another. They are not interested in the political soap opera of Westminster and just want it done. Why not? After all, they told it would be easy, that the UK would hold all the cards, and the EU was the only thing holding them back from a glorious global trading future.However, there are only two forms of departure: a "harder" Brexit which ruptures commerce with the EU so it will no longer be the subject to its rules, or a "softer" one, which leaves us with the ability to trade. Neither option is enticing.For a hard Brexit, the EU currently supplies 53 percent of the UK's imports: interference would be catastrophic for an economy accustomed to last-minute supply chains. A soft Brexit will leave the UK a rule taker, not a rule maker. What is the point? Such upheaval, absurdity, turmoil, and division, for a policy that will almost certainly leave us poorer and weaker. It baffles the mind.The only good thing to have come from this is that I no longer hold any illusions about politicians. I know now they are as weak, fallible and ignorant as any other group in society. Of course, this is not a comforting thought, but I'm afraid that it is the only thing I am going to get out of it.The author has been a freelance journalist in China since 2008. Follow him on Twitter at @bucketoftongues. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn