In 28 days at midnight on January 31st the UK will leave the EU. Although we will still be in a transition period for the following 11 months this is strictly a temporary phase and we will not be an EU member.
This is a hugely momentous moment for me and it's one I thought I'd never see. We joined what was then the Common Market in 1973 but only had a referendum on membership in 1975, which shows you how rigged it all was from the very beginning. I was 21 in 1975 and voted to leave but obviously (by design) there was never any chance we would leave a mere two years after joining. I then saw decades of increasing federalism and a huge erosion of national sovereignty as the Common Market became the European Union. Even though the UK has been the second largest net contributor to the EU budget from day one we never really have had much influence as it always has been run by, and for the benefit of, Germany & France.
National vetoes were replaced by qualified majority voting, the European Parliament was given increased powers as was the ECJ. If ever there was some sort of popular vote against any aspect of ever closer union there would be more until the 'right' result was obtained. The main tactic, however, was not to allow ordinary voters a say on this for fear of them rejecting the monstrosity the EU had become.
Finally, the EU will be consigned to the dustbin of British history and I couldn't be happier. Regardless of any economic consequences (which I believe will be short lived and manageable) the prize is that the UK will be a fully independent nation once more. We can have friendly and close relations with our European neighbours and we still will be the second largest NATO member after the US, providing security for all of Europe.
The countdown has started.