Playing Devil’s Advocate I rejoice that, as a remainer myself, the leavers won the referendum by that slight majority just over a year ago. The wonderfully farcical start of the divorce proceedings with that perfect ‘no’ pronounced by the President of the European commission to the UK’s proposals regarding EU citizen rights in the UK was hilariously up to ‘Yes Minister’ standards, paradoxically.

And so it will remain, for that key word, ‘immigration’, – apparently eclipsing anything to do with the people’s daily bread: the tangible economy of the country which, in 2015, was proceeding swimmingly – affects EU citizens who are a minority. For the majority of immigrants to the UK are what the Italians call ‘extra-comunitari’ or ‘non EU’ citizens’.

This immigrant label would be joined in the future by UK citizens, were it not for the fact that I predict, with every certainty that intuition teaches me and, more significantly, rational thought points out to me, that the whole brexshit palaver will have fizzled out by the end of next year in a euro swamp of personal recriminations and apologetic self-immolations.

That’s simply because, at the very most, the ‘softness’ now the ‘reduced’ PM will have to accept in any deal will hardly differ from the present extremely generous terms the EU have given to the UK’s eccentric individuality, except for the fact that she’ll have to pay a multi-billion euro fee for the privilege.

As the humourist George Mikes said: ‘in Britain everything is done the opposite way round.’

Of course, the whole shambles could have been avoided if every remainer had dragged themselves out of their homes to the polling stations on that fateful date, 23rd June 2016.

But if the remainers had won then the nightmarish thorn of the Eurosceptic would have returned again and again to taunt the Conservative party and prick their often malleable skins.

And, again, in an additional forty years’ time another prime minister could well have come to power with the inebriated ineptitude of a robotically programmed artificial thought process, and be forced to carry out the absurdity of holding another referendum on policies so important to the country that they could only be debated and voted upon by experienced people’s representatives, the Members of Parliament themselves.

As Shakespeare – a definite remainer were he to be around today in person (as he shall always be around for anyone who reads his works which will forever remain a paradigm of how to analyse and sort out the complexities of human existence and relationships) judging by how many of his plays are placed within the European Union (exactly half of them, in fact) – had Hamlet say:

Tis the sport to have the enginer
Hoist with his own petard; and ‘t shall go hard

The ‘enginer’ (the one who devises a plan in this case) in this case was Hamlet’s mum’s second husband who delivered letters to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern plotting to have Hamlet done away with. Hamlet spotted the letters in time and, manipulating them in the manner of contemporary suicide bombers, had the two disloyal friends finished off instead.

Yes ‘it shall truly go hard’ with those who have shot themselves in the foot to leave one of the world’s strongest economic and cultural unions.

At least, however, we shall have a seriously funny sequel to that brilliant comedy series written by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn. The problem, however, is that we shall have to live it with uncomfortable pay packets rather than watch it in the comfort of our armchairs…

(Below a picture of Lucca from its walls – open to the whole world to visit this beautiful city!)