Yesterday David Attenborough turned 92 and I came across this interview a few days earlier which was published in the Independent in September in which he discussed the decision by the UK to leave the EU. One of his statements which for me helped to reassure me that my own views were not a million miles away from his was “I’m not an economist, I certainly don’t understand the political and economic implications of Brexit … but philosophically I would rather the people embrace one another than spat in one another’s face,”

The truth is that our departure from the EU as we keep on being told will give [our Government] unchallenged power and control over our own nations decision making. However that is something we have always had, its just that being part of the EU meant we were willing to submit these powers and control to a broader consensus of largely collaborative and like minded nations. What our departure really means is that our own decisions as a nation are no longer subject to the position that these other nations take and equally that their combined decisions will no longer take our nations views into account. However as yesterday made clear (apart from the celebrations for David’s Birthday) when nations which have full independence from one another decide to act in a way that is at odds with their nearest allies, their actions can have a huge and damaging impact on the other nations around them and indeed across the world. Donald Trump’s tearing up of the Iran deal was not a surprise, indeed he promised he would do it before he was elected, just as his decision to reject the Paris agreement was not a surprise. However knowing he was going to do so has not made matters any easier. We are facing a much more challenging environment in terms of nuclear weapons and greenhouse gasses than was the case before he carried out these decisions.

The fact is that embracing people and nations is far from easy when they say and act in a manner that irritates or angers us. However choosing not to spit in one another’s faces should not be too difficult. Being members of the EU, of NATO, of the UN along with the many other international bodies which our nation helped to form (the EU was formed from the EEC which we did not shape, but its successor had our prints all over it) carries with it a cost. However living in a world where nations are prepared to spit in one anothers faces as Donald Trump did yesterday is much more risky than submitting our decision making to collaborative groups like the EU. I am with David Attenborough. Our departure from the EU is a major mistake and will cost us dearly on many levels, just as the decision by the USA to elect Donald Trump will cost them and us dearly. His reasoning is something I recognise as have many parallels with the calls for unity that come from church teachings as well as wise political voices.