Err…well. Maybe we aren’t as British as we think. Maybe Boris Johnsons assertion that he is still thinks of himself as European because he speaks French and German a tad naïve and quite possibly harmful. Maybe we should stop standing on the shop floor contemplating our naval and look up beyond the boss, even beyond the bosses, bosses, boss to who it is perched on the top of the ladder looking down.

Let’s take as an example the company I work for. It’s a UK and a co.uk. We have a UK CEO, but if I look up and shade my eyes from the glow of commercial greatness, the chap at the top of the ladder is Japanese. The product we sell is manufactured across the Channel in Europe. But I, from the coal dust in my shoes to the tips of my fingers and the top of my head of greying hair am British, nay English.