I’d been feeling uneasy for a while. Then, a month ago, I experienced an emotional catharsis followed by a dramatic change of heart.

Some pro-EU journalists, policy wonks and academics were invited to dinner and informal conversations on how the UK could reconnect with the union. I’d attended a few of those before Brexit. The attendees and host were congenial and well-informed. But as this evening progressed, I began to feel like an alien. As the only immigrant there, I was disturbed by the hard, intellectual discussions on migration and justifications for tighter controls. I finally spoke up and shared some thoughts that I had not, until then, ever articulated. They listened intently. Since then, these part-formed ruminations have solidified. I am still processing what has happened.

In the run-up to and immediate aftermath of Brexit, I went on pro-EU marches, spoke at conferences and in the media about why I believed in the multinational project. Today, the old EU ardency has turned cold. The bloc is not what it was when we left.

Back then, it was, to Remainers, an edifice which upheld the values and doctrines of liberal democracy, unified wildly different cultures, respected international laws and was starting to embrace diversity. All that is gone. Like nativist Britain, Europe is turning brutally against “outsiders”.........

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