Today the MP Jo Cox was murdered by a man reportedly shouting "Britain First". The last thing she re-tweeted was a plea by a British WW2 veteran to stay in the EU which he and his friends fought and died to create.
If you believe in Britain, this foreigner fearing immigrant hating version is not it. Hate is not it. The bits of Britain we should be proud of are the bits where we showed great compassion and commitment. Where we liberated a Europe which was being oppressed by people spouting the very same rhetoric as Nigel Farage and his ilk were spouting only today, hours before this murder.
Be proud of a Britain that sacrificed hundreds of thousands of its own to see Europe free from oppression by foreigner hating fascists. Be proud of the Britain that did not buy into that vision of Europe the Nazi's saw with their anti-Jew, anti-disabled, anti-migrant, pro-German propaganda. Be proud of the Britain that brought freedom of expression, human rights, and seventy years of peace to Europe. Be proud of the Britain that stepped up to the plate and did not withdraw into its small island to be alone when things got truly challenging. Be proud of a Britain that did all this, and suffered decades of international debt to do it. Suffered rationing for its whole population, for years to achieve these things. To free all people, not just to protect British born people.
And here we are today; our newspapers constantly headlining about the "injustices" we face "because of migrants". Too much of the UK population is falling for the same fascist talk of the Nazi's, just as the German population did at the time - but today it's from British mouths. We are in danger of becoming, slowly, that which we fought so hard and so valiantly against.
What happened today is the culmination of decades of dodgy politics alienating the general public, poor policy, the de-funding of national services, poorly targeted education systems, austerity, and a media which sensationalises rather than reports.
The recent rise of fascism and isolationism is both entirely predictable and utterly tragic. Today's act of domestic terrorism - which, if the reports are confirmed - is what this is, is the next progression in this hateful trend.
It will take a generation to fix this, is we start now. It will take multiple generations if we abandon the EU and cave to these base and simplistic notions.