This charm offensive is vital to convince the world we’re not mad

Britain’s decision to leave the EU has left other countries baffled — so we need to put a positive spin on Brexit

concede that both arguments played their part in Leave’s victory, a twin-track approach that simultaneously advanced internationalism and insularity. Such doublethink is just about tenable in a referendum campaign. But it is not sustainable as a governing principle.

Now that Britain has formally notified Brussels of its intention to leave the EU and the white paper for the Great Repeal Bill has been published, No 10 is determined to scotch the notion that Britain is retreating behind a wall of nostalgia, xenophobia and diminished ambitions.

The PM’s allies are especially hostile to anything that smacks of “culture wars”, of a country mired in introspection and division. More than ever, they believe, Britain must not only be, but be perceived as, open, energetic and confident, rather than as a fractious, fading nation checking itself into the nursing home of former imperial powers.

This is a formidable challenge. While it may be in the ultimate interests of our 27 (soon-to-be-ex-) EU partners for a constructive deal to emerge from the negotiations of the next two years, the process is bound to involve plenty of ugly talk about Britain’s supposedly dwindling clout on the world stage. The weekend’s skirmish over Gibraltar was only a taste of things to come.

It would be idle, furthermore, to deny the level of sincere and enduring bafflement in many countries at the British people’s decision. Why would the fifth largest economy in the world withdraw from its big gest single market? Why leave the top table of your own continent? The long and winding political road that led to last year’s referendum outcome is of little interest in foreign capitals. What does command attention around the world is the question of Britain’s objectives now that it is taking this momentous step.

In response, action is more important than rhetoric. This is why the PM is in the Gulf pursuing the UK’s commercial and securit y i n t e re s t s , why the Chancellor is in India championing our financial services and technology, and why Fox has been in South-East Asia pressing home the message that postBrexit Britain will be a powerhouse of international trade. Later this year the PM is expected to visit Japan. Her team continues to work on the outline of a new trade deal with America.

The touring, bartering and gladhanding will be relentless, and not all of it will bear fruit. But, in a radically interdependent world, some version of this strategy is the responsibility of every government. For a nation about to decouple itself from the EU, it is an absolute necessity.