"We just want our country back"

Supporters of Brexit cite a wide variety of reasons to explain their views.  These range from Brussels' alleged "meddling" in their affairs, to an objection to the size of the UK's contribution (almost always misrepresented in size and purpose), to the supposedly undemocratic nature of the Commission, and finally to the utterly feeble excuse of last resort which is emblazoned on their bus - "We want our country back".

Now I fully accept that some Brexit supporters use this slogan  in the context of repatriating democratic powers lost to Brussels, as they see it, but for a significant proportion it is just a poorly disguised call to racism.  Couched in terms of innocent, inoffensive simplicity it is actually just the opposite - it is in fact the secessionists' argument for withdrawal from the modern world.  What they "want back" is not a place but a time.  What they want back is the time before globalisation, before the Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury, before Idi Amin expelled the Ugandan Asians, before the fall of the Berlin Wall, and before the world shrank around them.

Today's world is characterised by technology that brings us all closer together and gives us far greater knowledge of foreign countries and cultures than previous generations ever had access to.  It is also characterised by increased travel for recreation and for work.  Wherever you settle in the world today you will hear all sorts of different languages and accents - this is a good thing as it reduces the fear of the unknown that people have about other nations and other cultures.  Unfortunately it seems to upset Nigel Farage.

In the past fears and demonisation of foreigners and of religions have allowed corrupt leaders to plunge their countries into the most horrendous of wars.  The sheer volume of travel and of cultural interaction today makes wars on such a scale less likely.  But pulling up the drawbridge and hiding behind the curtains will not stop this interaction from continuing in the rest of the world outside the UK.  It will however make the UK less relevant to and less engaged with the rest of the world.

UKIP-ers would like us to return to the Britain of the 1950s.  This is plainly not going to happen - the world has moved on, but it appears to have left UKIP behind.