Tim Congdon.

Talking of de Gaulle, shortly before the D-Day landings he and Churchill had one of their many sharp exchanges. The question was whether Britain’s most profound geopolitical commitment was to Europe or to the rest of the world, including of course the Commonwealth and the USA. Churchill was forthright, “If Britain must choose between Europe and the open sea, she must always choose the open sea.”

Yes, the “open sea” – the world other than Europe – with its 166 countries and its 83% of global output must always matter most to Britain; it must certainly matter more to us than Europe, even in its present allegedly “united” form, which – without us – has 26 countries and only 17% of world output.