If you had made the case, just a few years ago, that Britain should leave the single market, with no substitute arrangements in place, jeopardising 40 per cent of our trade and millions of jobs, you would have been thought delusional.

Yet here we are, just months away from leaving the European Union, with no proper arrangements in place and a prime minister who has now instructed officials to start planning for a no-deal Brexit. We are truly through the looking glass.

Hundreds of thousands of jobs are at risk – and we know the effects will be disproportionate. Even leaked excerpts from the Brexit department’s own research shows the further you are away from Greater London, the harder the impact.

The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Show all 8 1 /8 The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Post-Brexit immigration workers sorting radishes on a production line at a farm in Norfolk. One possible post-Brexit immigration scheme could struggle to channel workers towards less attractive roles - while another may heighten the risk of labour exploitation, a new report warns. PA The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Customs union A key point in the negotiations remains Britain's access to, or withdrawal from, the EU customs union. Since the referendum there has been hot debate over the meaning of Brexit: would it entail a full withdrawal from the existing agreement, known as hard Brexit, or the soft version in which we would remain part of a common customs area for most goods, as Turkey does? No 10 has so far insisted that “Brexit means Brexit” and that Britain will be leaving the customs union, but may be inclined to change its position once the potential risks to the UK’s economic outlook become clearer. Alamy The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Northern Ireland-Irish border Though progress was made last year, there has still been no solid agreement on whether there should be a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. To ensure borderless travel on the island, the countries must be in regulatory alignment and therefore adhere to the same rules as the customs union. In December, the Conservative Party’s coalition partners, the DUP, refused a draft agreement that would place the UK/EU border in the Irish Sea due to its potential to undermine the union. May has promised that would not be the case and has suggested that a “specific solution” would need to be found. Getty The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Transition period Despite protests from a small number of Conservative MPs, the Government and the EU are largely in agreement that a transitional period is needed after Brexit. The talks, however, have reached an impasse. Though May has agreed that the UK will continue to contribute to the EU budget until 2021, the PM wants to be able to select which laws made during this time the UK will have to adhere to. Chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said the UK must adopt all of the laws passed during the transition, without any input from British ministers or MEPs. EPA The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Rights of EU citizens living the UK The Prime Minister has promised EU citizens already living in the UK the right to live and work here after Brexit, but the rights of those who arrive after Brexit day remains unclear. May insists that those who arrive during the transition period should not be allowed to stay, whereas the EU believe the cut-off point should be later. Getty The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Future trade agreement (with the EU) Despite this being a key issue in negotiations, the Government has yet to lay out exactly what it wants from a trade deal with the EU. Infighting within the Cabinet has prevented a solid position from being reached, with some MPs content that "no deal is better than a bad deal" while others rally behind single market access. The EU has already confirmed that access to the single market would be impossible without the UK remaining in the customs union. Getty The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Future trade agreements (internationally) The Government has already begun trying to woo foreign leaders into prospective trade agreements, with various high profile state visits to China, India and Canada for May, and the now infamous invitation to US President Donald Trump to visit London. However the UK cannot make trade agreements with another country while it is still a member of the EU, and the potential loss of trade with the world's major powers is a source of anxiety for the PM. The EU has said the UK cannot secure trade deals during the transition period. EPA The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Financial services Banks in the UK will be hit hard regardless of the Brexit outcome. The EU has refused to give British banks passporting rights to trade within the EU, dashing hopes of a special City deal. However according to new reports Germany has suggested allowing trade on the condition that the UK continues paying into the EU budget even after the transition period. Getty

Ministers have done nothing to prepare us for the shocks to come, refusing to publish its economic risk analysis so as to allow for a nuanced conversation about the impact on cities such as Liverpool.

The most optimistic assessment, assuming we have retained access to the single market, sees the UK take a 2 per cent hit to GDP over the next 15 years, rising to 8 per cent with a no-deal Brexit.

The risk is that we become a low-regulation haven for neoliberal hardliners, with the social and environmental protections currently guaranteed by EU law, jettisoned.

The city of Liverpool voted by a clear majority – 58 per cent – to remain in the EU back in June 2016, primarily because people in this city recognised the tangible merits of EU membership. Europe helped us come back from the brink, providing the basis for Liverpool’s renaissance in recent years, including, of course, our year as European Capital of Culture in 2008.

Yet, papers released under the 30-year rule showed the Thatcher government seriously wanted to write us off. “Managed decline” it was called. EU funding helped us to bounce back and catalysed many of the dramatic changes we’ve seen over the past few years.

The risk is that Brexit reverses so much of our good work. After suffering a decade of austerity – with the loss of two-thirds of our government funding – we simply cannot take the extra shock of a hard Brexit.

This should worry Brexiteers. If places like Liverpool are negatively affected, then their project will have utterly failed, with the inflated claims made about how we will benefit outside the EU reduced to dust. So it’s actually in their interests to hold a second vote on the terms of our departure.

A poll for The Independent shows growing support for a second referendum, up four points in a month to 44 per cent, with just over a quarter of voters opposed to one. Nearly two to one.

The public deserves a chance to see what it is buying. So much water has passed under the bridge since the country narrowly voted for Brexit in June 2016, that the case for a second, confirmatory ballot is becoming deafening.

This is not about asking the same question over and over again; it’s about offering a chance to approve how the country will be governed after 2019 – a discussion that never took place during the disingenuous referendum campaign.

Asking people whether they’re in favour of whatever last-effort deal ministers manage to negotiate is undoubtedly reasonable.

If, after hearing the arguments the British public still votes to leave, then I have no argument with that. It is the public’s choice. As a democrat I would accept their decision. But if the facts change – and they have – we should have the opportunity to change our minds.