Our Australian correspondent Justin Simpson ponders life post-Brexit for the Mother Country

From far away, it feels like the end is nigh for the mother country as it drifts into irrelevance off the northwest coast of Europe like some rusty old trawler long past its use by date heading for the scrapyard and many Brits in Australasia, me included, feel greatly aggrieved at the loss of trading, cultural and many other links with our long-term neighbours across the Channel…

Holidays won’t be the same now we have to buy a visa to visit places where previously we could travel freely. Nor will the inevitable sharp increase in price of goods now required to incur a tariff or other financial surcharge as the price to be paid for ‘taking back control’ – of what, it’s not quite clear – as we are all governed by and/or accountable to someone…

Does it make any difference whether that someone is your local mayor, UK prime minister or EU president? You get to vote for them all, regardless of their accent, gender, class, race etc but now, the UK will have to enjoy those ‘sunny uplands’ of economic prosperity all on its own – or will that be endure instead?

We shall know all too soon…