I’m a young person who voted for Brexit – one year until our departure, I still don’t regret it

Voters have been taken for a ride for years by politicians – and just look at the backlash we have received for trying to change things for the better

As our final year of EU membership approaches, I still feel no regret at voting to leave the European Union.

Many think that the average Brexiteer, like me, is a close-minded, impulsive fool, caring nothing for the world beyond his doorstep (at least, that is according to cultured, cosmopolitan, rational Remainers, like AC Grayling and James Chapman).

Alas, since the referendum, this tribe of intellectuals has been suffering from an outbreak of ignorance and hysteria. Call it “the Brexit effect”, but our betters have become just as ignorant, idiotic and irrational as the rest of us.

Coverage of the recent Italian election was notable for its lazy suggestions that populism was in fact the re-emergence of fascism; the ringing majority for the Eurosceptics was followed by bluster from British commentators that “nothing was certain” in Italian politics.

The inference is clear. The Italians are just incompetent racists, you know? Move along, chaps. Nothing to see here.

Does that sound familiar?

You’d think that for people who spend so much time in Tuscany and the Amalfi coast, Remainers would be a bit more enlightened on the topic, or at least have more to say than falling back onto the same stereotypes levelled at little Englanders. But like those who voted to leave the EU in Britain, Italian voters have had enough of a scandal-ridden status quo. Theirs is a country plagued by even more incompetence and corruption than our own.

Speaking of scandals, for all the hyperactive tweeting and suspenseful Channel 4 theme music, perhaps the public would be more outraged at Vote Leave siphoning money to BeLeave if Remain hadn’t been at the same game; what’s £700k when the opposition spent £9m of taxpayers’ money alone on those leaflets?

Shahmir Sanni was right; betraying British values like fair play would be enough to morally bankrupt a referendum. Perhaps that’s why Remain lost.

The key reasons for voting to leave haven’t changed – and “Project Fear” hasn’t come to fruition. Britain’s economy is still strong; according to the ONS it exceeds expectations, demonstrating that it can survive beyond Europe’s grasp. The exodus of bankers to Frankfurt and Dublin hasn’t materialised, income inequality is down and unemployment has dropped. The predicted chaos hasn’t happened. The sky has yet to fall in.

The fears of Eurosceptics beyond the economy, however, have become ever more pronounced. Terror attacks highlight the issue of border control for many. The brutality of the crackdown in Catalonia, followed by the hounding of Catalan politicians through Europe, has highlighted that democracy and free expression are not, in fact, particularly cherished by European elites.

We are not alone in these fears. Beyond Italy, other countries are registering their dissatisfaction. Just look at the election of Sebastian Kurz in Austria, or Milos Zeman in the Czech Republic. Meanwhile, Martin Selmayr’s rapid promotion through the echelons of power, which has been described as a “coup” by MEPs, is a timely reminder of why we must leave this corrupt bloc.

The EU doesn’t plan on changing. We must bring change ourselves – and that still means leaving.

It is the same culture that has permeated Westminster for decades, from Alastair Campbell’s dodgy dossier, to the expenses scandal, to Pestminster, to George Osborne’s “punishment budget”. Voters have been taken for a ride, and just look at the backlash we have received for trying to change things for the better.

Claims that it is Brexiteers who are going to ruin the country for daring to vote the wrong way are laughable. It is not us – but the political class we are trying to dismantle – who wield the wrecking balls. Every “gaff” that may set our country back is further vindication of why we needed to act.

Like the Italians, we have voted against living in a mafia state. The topless protestor who told Berlusconi “you’re finished” couldn’t have been more prophetic. No more Tony Blairs, no more Berlusconis, no more Junckers, Selmayrs – and please, no more of Guy Verhofstadt. We’ve had enough of the same old politics.