Today marks ten years since the results of the Brexit vote.
I remember that campaign well. I was leading the campaign for Leave locally.
Harlow returned one of the strongest Leave votes anywhere in the country, placing us amongst the top twenty Leave areas in Britain.
Ten years later, it is worth asking a simple question.
Was it worth it?
For me, the answer remains yes.
Not because every promise made in 2016 has been fulfilled. Not because everything has gone perfectly. And certainly not because every problem facing Britain today can be blamed on Brussels.
The answer is yes because the fundamental question posed in that referendum was not about economics, trade deals or regulations.
It was about democracy.
Who governs Britain?
For decades, more and more decisions had drifted away from voters and towards institutions over which ordinary people felt they had little influence. Whether one agreed with that process or not, there was a growing sense that important decisions were increasingly being made by people who could not easily be removed by the British electorate.
In 2016, the country was asked whether that should continue.
The British people answered no.
That democratic decision matters just as much today as it did then.
One of the things that struck me during the campaign was that many people who voted Leave were not ideological Eurosceptics. They were ordinary working people who felt that political, economic and cultural decisions were happening around them rather than with them.
They wanted a greater sense of control, accountability and national self government. Above all, they wanted to know that those making decisions in their name were listening
What strikes me most, looking back ten years later, is that many of the frustrations that drove the Brexit vote have not disappeared.
Indeed, some have become stronger.
Too often, the referendum debate is reduced to a discussion about trade, regulations or economics. Important though those issues are, I believe something deeper was taking place.
Many people felt they were no longer being heard.
For years they had raised concerns about immigration, pressure on public services, housing, wages and the pace of social and economic change.
Those concerns were not invented by politicians or newspapers. They were based in people’s everyday experiences and observations of the communities in which they lived.
Yet too often those concerns were dismissed, ignored or caricatured as racist rather than properly addressed. Many people felt that raising legitimate questions about the future direction of the country resulted in them being labelled rather than listened to.
The referendum became the moment when they finally had a chance to say: “You may not have listened before, but you will listen now.”
That is why Brexit resonated so strongly in places like Harlow.
It was not simply a vote about Europe, it was a vote about accountability.
A vote to remind those in positions of power that democracy requires consent, and that consent depends upon people knowing their voices matter.
Brexit was a consequence, the deeper issue was trust. People wanted to know that those making decisions in their name were listening to them, accountable to them and ultimately answerable to them.
Ten years later, I worry that Westminster has not learned that lesson.
On immigration in particular, there remains a significant gap between what many voters say they want and what successive governments have delivered. Public confidence has been damaged not simply because immigration remains high, but because people increasingly doubt that politicians mean what they say or will act on what they promise.
Whether one favours higher immigration or lower immigration, a healthy democracy requires honesty. Governments should be prepared to explain their policies, defend them and be accountable for them. What they cannot do indefinitely is promise one thing and deliver another.
The lesson of Brexit was not that the British people are always right, it was that the British people expect to be heard. Any political movement that forgets that lesson risks making the same mistake that led to the referendum result in the first place.
Of course the years since have not always been easy.
Brexit was followed by political turmoil, a global pandemic, war in Europe, an energy crisis and inflationary pressures that affected virtually every developed nation. Untangling the effect of Brexit from those wider events has often proved impossible.
Supporters and opponents alike have sometimes been guilty of claiming too much.
Brexit did not solve all Britain’s problems.
Equally, Brexit is not the cause of all Britain’s problems.
I understand why many people voted Remain, just as I understand why some continue to believe Brexit was a mistake.
I disagree with them.
But I respect their right to hold that view, just as I expect them to respect the democratic decision the British people ultimately made.
The truth is more complicated than either side often admits.
If there is one criticism I would make of the years that followed, it is that too many politicians seemed to believe that simply delivering Brexit would be enough.
It was not.
The public voted to take back control, but they also expected government to use that control to address the issues that had driven so many people to vote Leave in the first place.
The opportunities Brexit created still require strong political leadership, investment in skills, support for enterprise and a willingness to make the reforms needed to help our economy grow and compete.
It means creating the conditions in which businesses can succeed, rewarding hard work, ensuring that work always pays more than welfare, and giving people the opportunity to build a better life for themselves and their families.
That work remains unfinished.
Yet there are also things that should not be overlooked.
Britain now makes its own laws, controls its own trade policy, determines its own immigration rules and speaks with an independent voice on the international stage.
Some may regard those things as symbolic.
I do not.
The right of a nation to govern itself is not a symbol. It is the foundation of democracy.
The ability of the British people to choose their own future, elect their own governments and hold those governments accountable matters. It mattered in 2016 and it matters today.
That is why sovereignty is not an abstract constitutional concept. It is the means by which democratic decisions are translated into democratic action.
And it is also why so many people remain frustrated.
The powers have been returned, but too often they have not been used in the way voters expected.
Many wanted stronger control of immigration. Many wanted a more competitive economy. Many wanted a Britain that was confident in defending its interests, strengthening its armed forces and asserting its place in the world.
Instead, there remains a feeling that parts of the political establishment are still uncomfortable with the very idea of national self government.
Britain should be a confident, outward looking nation, trading globally, defending its interests, honouring its allies and providing leadership where it can, not shrinking in a corner as our armed forces are emasculated and our public services are overwhelmed by people from other nations seeking a handout.
Ten years on, I remain proud of the role I played in that campaign.
Not because politics is about winning arguments.
But because politics is ultimately about trusting people.
In 2016, the British people were asked a simple question and gave a clear answer.
The challenge for our political leaders was never simply to leave the European Union.
It was to understand why people voted to leave in the first place.
Looking at Britain today, I am not convinced that lesson has yet been fully learned.
Until it is, the forces that produced Brexit will remain very much alive in our society, and if politicians continue to ignore them, they should not be surprised when voters once again decide to make themselves heard