In 1948, Winston Churchill inaugurated the European Union, talking of a united future, where people can travel freely across EU countries, always feeling at home.

In 2017, when the ugly spectre of populism stalks the planet once more, Britain’s most lauded wartime Prime Minister would be ashamed of a Conservative government that is leading Britain off its long stint on the world stage, while trying to hold a gun to the heads of our European neighbours.

By putting the country on course to leave the European Union, the single market, and even the customs union, Theresa May is turning her back on the post-war settlement that has brought peace and prosperity to the people of Europe for over 70 years.

Theresa May confirms there will be a white paper on Brexit

In the face of the Prime Minister’s threats, political and business leaders in Europe are uniting behind an increasingly impenetrable position in which the survival of the European Union and the single market is prioritised over maintaining the current trading arrangements with the UK.

This impasse has put Theresa May’s destiny and the future of this country into the hands of an ignorant, capricious, amoral, authoritarian in the White House, the values of whom couldn’t be further removed from everything we’ve held dear for the past half a decade.

The Prime Minister’s charm offensive belies the desperation of her Government to get a feel-good free trade deal with new Trump administration, whatever the political cost. This cost could not only be felt in Britain, but across Europe.

Friday’s meeting saw the post-referendum stakes rise significantly, so much so that Brexit has become a proxy in a culture war between those who want to consign the post-war consensus to the flames and those of us who want to defend Western liberal democracy.

Britain’s submission to an insular and unpredictable White House administration can only intensify Putin’s efforts to realise his own imperialist fantasies in Eastern Europe and sow political discord across the continent. The upsurge of populism in Europe has provided him with plenty of political allies.

France’s National Front, Germany’s AfD, Greece’s Golden Dawn, Hungary’s Jobbik, Italy’s Northern League, Belgium’s Vlaams Belang, Holland’s Party of Freedom, and Britain’s Ukip have all been, to different extents, capable of shifting the centre of political discourse to the right and more closely to Russia’s anti-Western, anti-globalisation outlook.

Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Show all 13 1 /13 Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Supreme Court Brexit Challenge People wait to enter the public gallery outside the Supreme Court ahead of the challenge against a court ruling that Theresa May's government requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, in Parliament Square, central London Reuters Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Gina Miller, co-founder of investment fund SCM Private arrives at the Supreme court in London on the first day of a four-day hearing Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge A man waves the EU flag in front of the Supreme Court Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Satirical artist Kaya Mar poses with two of his paintings in front of the Supreme Court Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Pro-Europe protestors dressed as Supreme Court Justices stand outside the Supreme Court ahead of the first day of a hearing into whether Parliament's consent is required before the Brexit process can begin. The eleven Supreme Court Justices will hear the government's appeal, following the High Court's recent decision that only Parliament can trigger Article 50 Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge The eleven Supreme Court Justices will hear the government's appeal, following the High Court's recent decision that only Parliament can trigger Article 50 Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Businesswoman Gina Miller arrives at the Supreme Court ahead of the first day of a hearing into whether Parliament's consent is required before the Brexit process can begin Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Attorney General Jeremy Wright arrives at the Supreme Court in London EPA Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Protesters outside the Supreme Court in London, where the Government is appealing against a ruling that the Prime Minister must seek MPs' approval to trigger the process of taking Britain out of the European Union PA wire Supreme Court Brexit Challenge A protesters wearing a judge's wigs and robes stands outside the Supreme Court ahead of the challenge against a court ruling that Theresa May's government requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, in Parliament Square, central London Reuters Supreme Court Brexit Challenge A protester holds up a placard outside the Supreme Court ahead of the challenge against a court ruling that Theresa May's government requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, in Parliament Square, central London Reuters Supreme Court Brexit Challenge Pro-Europe protestors dressed as Supreme Court Justices stand outside the Supreme Court Getty Supreme Court Brexit Challenge A man waiting to enter the public gallery waves a European Union flag outside the Supreme Court ahead of the challenge against a court ruling that Theresa May's government requires parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, in Parliament Square, central London Reuters

From the EU to Nato, these political insurgents are complicit in corroding trust in our institutions and weakening European political consensus. Most disquieting is the relish with which large sections of the British press and many of our politicians, particularly in the Conservative Party, treat this spectacle. This delight in the potential disintegration of our European neighbours belies something more sinister than a debate over Britain’s future trading partners.

When Winston Churchill visited Harrow School in 1941, he told its pupils to “never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense”.

Those of us who want to live in a world where equality, human rights and free speech are respected, where the use of torture is prohibited, and the fight against environmental degradation endures, should take note; a proxy war has begun and there’s everything to lose.