The notion that the UK’s Brexit vote was driven by some kind of dangerous and delusional “imperial nostalgia” has been repeated so many times since 2016 as to become a cliché. 

But it is interesting to note that the same people making this argument often seem to be bemoaning the extent to which the UK’s global influence is set to decline after Brexit. They are upset not because they fear Brexit will achieve some kind of land-grab that will return the nation to an abhorrent imperial past, but rather because they fear Britain will lose its “seat at the table”.

Former British prime ministers Tony Blair and John Major, both ardent Remainers, have issued warnings about the UK’s reduced influence on the world stage after Brexit, as have other prominent Remain-supporters. “We are no longer ‘Great’ Britain,” tweeted former Conservative MP Anna Soubry on Christmas Eve after the trade deal was announced. Leaving the EU, she added, “diminishes our country, will make us all a little poorer & narrow our horizons”.