"Certainly not during WWII when we were perhaps the last bastion of freedom in Europe."

Perhaps you need to check your understanding of the post-war events that led to the founding of the European Union and the reasons why a united Europe is a progressive idea that has eschewed by a smidgeon over half the voters of this country that forgot what our families fought and suffered for.

Britannia doesn't rule the waves any more, thank fuck. Brexiteers would be happy to be Xi Jinping's arsewipe rather than be part of something their limited imaginations (as per all the right wing) simply cannot understand.