Brexit will be a process rather than an event: a gradual and cumulative repatriation of powers within the context of continuing economic links and a military alliance. The man who put it best, oddly enough, was the leader of the Remain side, Stuart Rose: “It’s not going to be a step change, it’s going to be a gentle process.”

Lord Rose went on, before his horrified spin doctors could shut him up: “Nothing is going to happen if we come out of Europe in the first five years, probably. There will be absolutely no change. Then, if you look back 10 years later, there will have been some change, and if you look back 15 years later there will have been some.”

What will have changed? We’ll have straightened our backs after years bent double under EU regulations. We’ll have raised our eyes to the burgeoning markets across the oceans. We’ll have recovered that precious right to hire and fire our own lawmakers. We’ll have shown the world that our story is not yet told. All we need is the courage, tomorrow, to take the first pace.