Indeed. The UK now resembles nothing so much as a retired soldier in imbecile dotage, boring all comers with increasingly-embellished tales of former glories, while handing power of attorney to conmen who want only to steal the paintings off the walls before the house falls down.

Comment in theguardian.com to Global Britain exposed as impotent and friendless by Afghanistan

Brexit is a national tragedy built on a chimera. The UK is about to discover that it has traded the real power to shape its destiny for an illusion drenched in nostalgia.

Philip Stephens, The Financial Times