Fairness: The UK is the only nation in the world that I know of that has a word for “fairness.” Other languages have words for “justice”, “right and wrong”, “legal-illegal” etc. But the notion of fairness, as we understand it in the UK, is unique to the people of the UK. It’s the notion that we once had that we voluntarily queue at bus stops according first to age, infirmity and encumbrance, and then according to order of arrival. We’re odd that way.

Parliamentary Democracy: We get to vote for the people who debate and make our laws, and those laws are based on what the people want. If our government does a bad job of lawmaking, we can vote in a different government. Ultimately, however corrupted by special interests they might become, our governments answer to us, the voters.

Common Law: Closely connected to fairness, our Common Law forces the government and everyone else to presume that someone accused of committing a crime is innocent until he or she is found guilty. Common Law assesses an alleged wrong not just against the letter of the law, but also against the culture and will of the people. And Common Law, via nullification, allows the people to overrule even the highest court in the land.

Global Outlook: The UK was founded on global trade, which has turned a tiny island with few natural resources into the 5th biggest economy in the world.

Openness: The UK has been the most open-hearted, open-minded nation in the world with respect to immigration, religion, culture, political dissidence, scientific and many other new ideas, innovations and peoples.

The Green Belt and the Landscape: There is no more beautiful sight than an English landscape. And there are few nations in the world whose largest cities have as many green spaces and parks. It makes my heart swell to think that those who went before us took such loving care that we and and those who come after us should have the beautiful land they inherited.

Free Speech: The UK has traditionally allowed one person to freely offend, insult, praise, challenge and persuade another person in the interests of keeping the government at arm’s length from interference in the thoughts, actions and expression of a free people. There is no freedom more fundamental than the ability to simply say what’s on our mind without the fear that the government will punish us for doing so.

Diversity: I grew up in South East London alongside hundreds of West Indians, Pakistanis, Indians, Singhalese, Ugandans, etc, and I never thought twice about it. Instead, I grew to love curries, rice and peas, Reggae, George Best’s skills, and so much else that these foreigners inspired and introduced and integrated into my community.

Patriotism: I and everyone else I knew, irrespective of what country they came from, stood when they heard the national anthem. We accepted that the UK wasn’t the only nation in the world, but, for us, it was, and it remains, our home and the most important country in the world.

Independence:  The UK has always gone its own way, and successfully so, never kowtowing to any dictatorial force, be it military or economic.

The Pound. The pound has an historic importance that is integral to the nation’s identity, and it has served us well for a long time.

Individual Rights: The Magna Carta, the British Bill of Rights, Common Law and our historic culture guarantee that neither the government nor a mob can remove from me my inherent and natural right as a free individual to speak, act and think freely, own property, travel unmolested, demand representation in return for the taxes I pay etc.

The NHS:  The establishment of the National Health Service is one of the best ideas anyone ever had, and, when it works at capacity, it is one of the best governmental resources the world has ever dreamt up.

National Existence: I really, really love the idea that the UK can continue to exist as a nation, because it’s the greatest nation the world has ever produced, and I am honoured to be one of its grateful children.

My love of these things is the reason I’m grabbing our last chance to finally undo the horrible deal our government made in secret with “Europe” four decades ago, in which they promised to give the  best of who we are away in return for the poisoned chalice of EU membership.

It’s time to leave the failing, close-minded and petty EU behind, so that the UK — the greatest nation in the world — can move ahead.