How right we were to vote for Brexit

REMEMBER what they told us before the EU referendum, a year ago this week? With almost one voice, economists, Eurocrats, quangocrats, international bodies, Whitehall mandarins, the Governor of the Bank of England and leaders of every mainstream political party warned that a vote for Brexit would bring instant catastrophe.

In the words of the then- Chancellor, George Osborne: ‘A vote to leave would represent an immediate and profound shock to our economy. That shock would push our economy into a recession.’

Some shock! Some recession! A year on, the economy continues to grow steadily, employment is at an all-time high, exports and consumer confidence are booming – and share prices are up nearly 25 per cent since the post-referendum low, representing a £460billion Brexit bounce.

Truly, this has been a bumper 12 months for pension funds, savers with equity ISAs, jobseekers, exporters helped by the weaker pound and other companies investing to boost productivity and expand.

Through all the political upheaval, British firms have just got on with their job, seizing the growing opportunities offered by the global economy to deliver goods and services the world wants to buy.

Meanwhile, to her great credit, Theresa May has remained steadfast in her resolve to give effect to the will of the people, expressed by 17.4million voters last summer.

Yes, she has suffered a buffeting at the ballot box (though many a past prime minister, with a healthy Commons majority, came nowhere near her share of the vote).

And, yes, she has been forced humiliatingly to jettison much of the Tory manifesto.

But on Brexit, the central mission of her administration, she has stayed rock solid. Indeed, it is hugely encouraging that this week’s Queen’s Speech foreshadowed eight bills, aimed at restoring self-government in such vital areas as immigration, fisheries, agriculture, VAT and customs duties.

The message is unmistakable. Come what may, the Prime Minister intends to pull out of the single market – or single regulatory regime, as it should properly be called – liberating us from the European Court and returning control of our borders.

As her programme makes clear, she is also determined to withdraw from the customs union, which prevents us striking deals with booming markets in the wider world.

This is the Brexit the nation voted for, in a referendum whose result 85 per cent of MPs elected a fortnight ago are committed to honouring. Any attempt to sabotage it – by the pathetic rump of Lib Dems, other Remoaner MPs or arrogant, unelected peers – will be an affront to democracy.

True, the negotiations will be tough – though they have begun promisingly, with Mrs May’s humane offer of rights to EU migrants who have lived here for five years, on the eminently reasonable condition that Brussels reciprocates for British expats.

True, again, there will be choppy economic waters ahead (though even the sclerotic eurozone is showing signs of recovery, offering our exporters more opportunities).

But one year on, this paper remains convinced that in defying the ‘experts’ of Project Fear, voters made the right decision for their children and grandchildren.