"Hard as it is to say now, I trust that the European family may act unitedly as one under a Council of Europe. I look forward to a United States of Europe, in which the barriers between the nations will be greatly minimised and unrestricted travel will be possible."

Winston Churchill, October 1942

(Source: http://bit.ly/28WrhOL)

The EU matters most because it has extended the ambit of the political community we British inhabit. It has given us reason to support institutions which seek to act with equal concern towards our fellow citizens across the 28 member nations. The richer parts of the community, including Britain, have obligations to share resources and the poorer the entitlement to benefit. There are mutual obligations to cooperate, and more effective institutional means for doing so. Violent conflict has become less likely as the movement of people and capital has aligned interests and settlement, trade, and tourism have enhanced understanding.

This is moral progress. The EU is a profound, world-historical instance in what before was a particularly bloody part of the world.

That EU institutions are imperfect is almost trivially true: perfection is not a human attribute. They are also in their infancy and obviously a work in progress.

Political defects are a great reason for seeking to improve politics and institutions. Oppression apart, such defects are not a reason for undermining institutions, nor a justification for walking off with one's toys.

Brexit is antihistorical. It seeks to reverse civilisational progress, and to prop a simplistic 'solution' to the complex problems of post-industrialisation.

It is unjust, blaming outsiders for things not their fault.

And it is profoundly unBritish, reversing the unification of the Continent to which Britain has been committed for 70 years.

I am running my first Half Marathon in Berlin, a powerfully appropriate location, on 2 April 2017. Your support is very greatly appreciated.