There is no future in England's dreaming...

The EU Referendum has stirred ghosts within the body politic that globalisation was supposed to have exorcised.

Instead they have remained below the surface, restless forces and emotions that once disturbed will be very hard to ignore.

Myths of Great Britain's glorious past, the land of hope and glory, have been invoked by those claiming the leaving of the EU to be an act of patriotism.

In a culture that is marketed and devoted so fervently to nostalgia, it is only natural that politics should follow suit, and that misty-eyed visions of 'better yesterdays' come to inform and influence decisions for the future.

Because we once had an Empire and led the world so proudly, it is assumed that we will be able to slide back into our former role on the global stage if we 'take our country back'. But what does this slogan actually mean to those who espouse it? Does it mean that we can isolate ourselves on our island of white cliffs and rolling fields and finally be masters of our own national destiny?

Power and influence was ceded to global capitalism a long time ago, and the ills that so many decry as not having control over our country directly follow from this.

Disenfranchisement and disillusionment derive from austerity politics that is a response to boom-and-bust neoliberal capitalism that Britain was signed up to by Margaret Thatcher and has been pursued ever since.

Immigration is perhaps the most emotive issue, the one most likely to provoke the nastiest 'Little England' response from those who have been corralled by right wing media to feel like they are under siege by swarms of 'others'.

The hysteria of the campaign, that has ultimately lead to the death of an MP, is due to the abject failure of both left and right to appropriately address the issue of immigration.

Regardless of being couched in ignorance or xenophobia as undoubtedly many people's views across the country are, this should not detract from the many others who have legitimate concerns about the ability of public services, housing and infrastructure to accommodate increased numbers.

Meeting such concerns over and over again with platitudes, correct though they are, about how immigration has a net economic benefit, and that they are 'good for the country' is to treat the issue with an intellectually insulting dearth of seriousness.

The great irony is that those Conservatives who banged the drum so keenly for power to be handed to the markets and for the unfettered free flow of capital, cannot come to terms with the fact that this necessarily means the free flow of people as well.

Meanwhile, the left has wallowed in its blind spot over immigration. Supporter though I am of Jeremy Corbyn, this is the issue on which I think he will prove most unelectable. Large numbers of the working class, who have been hit hardest by austerity and who have been enchanted by the ghosts of petty nationalism that swirl in the toxic mire, have turned to UKIP out of frustration at the left's inability to grasp the nettle.

It is my view that there is very little point in coming to a decision on leaving or remaining in the EU based on immigration. It will remain as difficult to control as ever, and any trade agreements that are signed up to post-Brexit will undoubtedly involve allowance for the free movement of people.

Instead, it is essential that the tenor of the debate changes in this country.

The facts have to be accepted that immigration benefits and enriches the country to a considerable extent. But similarly there has to be firm and committed plans in place to ensure that it is managed well. I am sure that people would feel differently were they to be assured that an actual plan was in place, that immigration was encouraged in certain places that might benefit more from it, and discouraged from those that may not.

Government funding should be allocated to areas, weighted according to the numbers of migrants they have absorbed, as a means of helping address concerns over strained services. All of this should be transparent and open, with the emphasis on there being a plan in action, rather than people's feeling that they have been left to become 'out of control'.

Because if that is allowed to continue happening then the inevitable result will be for the politics of fear and hatred to further take hold, as they have across Europe, and the awakened ghosts of a Britannia that no longer exists will haunt the stage.