"I vow to thee, my country..."

Yesterday morning, in my capacity as a parish councillor, I was on duty, laying a wreath on behalf of the Parish Council prior to the Remembrance Sunday service at St Peter's Church. Ours is a small village, and always has been, yet there are eight names on the memorial, six from World War 1 and two from World War 2, whilst there was one other casualty of the Great War whose name is missing from it.

Their names were read and remembered in the customary two minute silence that followed and, after a few words from our vicar, a former RAF officer, we returned to the church for the service of remembrance. Hymns were sung, the sermon given, readings made and prayers said.

It was a scene doubtless played out in small villages up and down the country, a opportunity to reflect upon the sacrifices made by others so that we might enjoy the freedoms that we too often take for granted.

I found myself reminded that, as something of an ersatz Englishman, I am, quietly, something of a patriot. I believe passionately in my country, for all its faults and idiosyncrasies, and in the values that go to make it, if not great, then a place I am proud to call home... most of the time. I believe in the ability of the British people to demonstrate compassion, ingenuity, heroism - some of the facets that make a nation potentially great.

And yet, there are people who would call me traitor, quisling, apologist, for I believe that Britain is better served by pooling some of its sovereignty with our neighbours for the greater good. They call themselves patriots too, and I presume that they think that they have the country's best interests at heart. And that, perhaps, is where our senses of patriotism diverge.

I think that their view of the world is defensive, exclusionary, negative. it presumes that we can wholly control our own destiny, denying the need to make arrangements with our neighbours that offer something to both parties. And maybe they're right, even if I doubt it with every fibre of my being.

And that makes my being a supposed member of the "liberal elite" rather a trial. You see, whilst I acknowledge their right to hold the views they do, even if I don't like them, they deny my right to disagree with them for, too often, their patriotism expresses itself in anger against those who don't share their world view.

I am told that I must understand their sense of anger, of frustration. There is no sense of quid pro quo though, no meeting part way over my fears that we will become isolated in the world, that our thinly veiled desire to exclude others will weaken our influence globally, that by denouncing this week's scapegoats (as designated by the Daily Mail) we deny minorities the hard-won freedoms that have enriched their lives and ours.

In short, I oppose the narrow nationalism that is this Government, waved on its way by Murdoch, Rothermere and Desmond and their friends, hailed by the UKIP leadership and endorsed by a sizeable chunk of the population who have no idea yet how little respect will be shown to them now that they've cast their vote.

And, out of the gutter, the racists have emerged. Don't get me wrong, I assume that most of the people who voted for Brexit aren't racists, or homophobes, or fascists. It's just that those who are think that they're the majority now, that their views are widely held. That gives them the confidence to express openly what was only said in secretive internet chatrooms by like-minded people.

Don't ask me to understand them. Don't ask me to meet them part way. I'm not going to. I believe in the values that made this country great, in an outward-looking, positive nation that plays its part in building a better world for everyone in it. I believe in freedom of expression, in the right to dissent and that people should be allowed to live their lives in peace. I believe that people should not be discriminated against because of their ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation, or for any other reason, by individuals or, especially, by the state.

For I am an Englishman, and proud of it, and the nationalists will never take that away from me.