THE WEEKEND BEFORE the EU referendum, my boyfriend drove us from Manchester to Grimsby, from one set of parents to the other. Given that one lot were “in” and the others “out”, the trip felt strangely symbolic.
One city used to be famed for its heavy industry, the other as a fishing port. But both boast a particular brand of self-deprecating Northern pride. Every homemade advertisement we saw on the sidings of the beautiful British A-roads said: LEAVE.
Of all the infectious catchphrases trotted out by the most prominent figureheads in the referendum debacle, the one that kept recurring on that journey was the muscular boast that Britain is the “fifth largest economy in the world.”