[Margaret Pilkington]

That is my issue too.
It is very easy to jump to conclusions about what is good for US when you don't actually live here and see the effects first hand.
It is very easy to view the situation through the monocle of the media....not realising that they are all manipulated by a remainer...or less frequently media that supports what the electorate was asking for.
It is interesting to note that the Daily Mail was fiercely in favour of Brexit....but a recent change of editor(from Paul Dacre to Geordie Grieg....a pro EU editor) has seen this publications stance on leave do an 'about face'.
So it is easy to see why there is confusion abroad.

Even when it was a trading arrangement, it left a lot to be desired.
The Brits follow rules slavishly, the Germans bend the rules to fit their needs and the French ignore totally the rules that they do not like/agree with....so it was never a fair and level playing field.

We are an island race....our borders are the waters this island sits in....so while burningman wants to see a world without borders it is not really going to happen.
There will always be borders of some description...and politicians epitomise this....they think they are the elite, rather than there to serve their electorate and none more so than our own representative.