Having campaigned long and hard for years for a UK withdrawal, I allowed myself a quiet moment of satisfaction. At 4.10am I proudly announced to a gathering inside a nightclub: “I now dare to dream that dawn is breaking over an independent United Kingdom.”

Since that momentous day I firmly believe Britain’s standing in the world has changed for the better. When it comes to foreign policy we now stand taller as a nation by acting independently of the EU.

The post-Brexit deals we have struck with economic powerhouses such as the USA and India plus the leadership we have shown over Ukraine are clear examples of an independent United Kingdom boldly reasserting itself on the world stage.

Unfortunately, when it comes to many of the other aspects of our withdrawal, our politicians have proved every bit as useless managing it as all those overpaid Brussels commissioners from whom we escaped.

Economically, we had a chance for Britain to forge a new path in the world, unshackled from the EU and all its rule-making and allow our businesses to thrive. But the harsh truth is, however, that in many areas we have more regulations now than when we left.

For millions, Brexit was about taking back control of our borders. Yet what happened? Net migration reached record levels. Under Boris Johnson and his Conservative successors, an unprecedented 3.8m people arrived here within three years.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands continue to turn up illegally on small boats while successive governments have allowed human rights lawyers and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to run rings around their attempts to deport them.

Betrayal has followed betrayal. Our fishermen were told we would recapture our waters. Result? EU boats continue to plunder our fish. Farmers were promised less environmental regulation yet are still practically choking on red tape.

The many benefits of our hard-fought Brexit freedoms are still there to be seized yet bafflingly Labour shows every sign of wanting to drag us back under the heel of Brussels. Are they completely mad?

For starters, the EU, still smarting over our departure, would insist on us accepting far stricter, less favourable terms than from our previous membership.

As for those post-Brexit trade deals (one of the few things ministers have achieved these past few years) those would have to be torn up immediately.

And while growth here might be sluggish, it’s not as if EU economies have much to crow about. France and Italy are performing no better than us. Germany is practically a basket case.

The truth is this Labour government is hellbent on blaming all the country’s current travails on Brexit simply to mask their own incompetence.

But it’s not Brexit’s fault we have chosen to sacrifice our energy security and pursue a mad dash to Net Zero while hammering households with sky-high bills.

It’s not Brexit’s fault we continue to pump billions into our creaking health service with no visible signs of improvement.

Nor was it Brexit which embarked upon a succession of reckless tax increases which have forced entrepreneurs and wealth creators to pursue their dreams elsewhere.

Reform UK, you’ll be happy to hear, will do things very differently.

We will harness our Brexit opportunities to create the most pro-business, pro-entrepreneurship government this country has seen in modern times which will signal a change of attitude towards work, making money and success.

We will lower the tax burden on small businesses which have been neglected for too long by governments more interested in looking after large corporations.

We will scrap the meddling ECHR and start deporting all those who arrive here illegally, halting the small boat crossings within days. We’ll do away with all those idiotic, EU-derived directives on net zero which are costing both households and businesses a fortune.

There’s a wonderful post-Brexit future out there, free from all these petty rules and directives which have been holding Britain back all these years. We just need to grasp it.