Now that the votes have been counted and the results published, perhaps it’s time for some of us to take notice of the outcome and rethink our position on Europe.

Our canny Scottish friends were not taken in by all that nationalistic, chauvinist rubbish that was spouted at them by those that tried to tell them that being alone was better than being part of a family.

You can be proud of your country and still be part of a greater family at the same time.

With the time coming soon we too will have the chance to decide if we wish to stay in Europe or to stand alone against a sea of troubles.

This sceptred isle, this precious stone set in a silver sea, this blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England may be very poetic but was not a reallity for most of the population living at the time and no doubt the spin doctors will be trying to convince us that this is true today when in reality the opposite is true.

There is no virtue in being alone, and being part of a family, even if you do not get on with all of them, is much more preferable than being on you own.

From a local point of view, how many of you think that Honda will automatically build its next new car in Swindon once we are out of the EU, and why would they?

They are an international company and as such will do what is right by their shareholders, not what the people of Swindon want.

There are hundreds of Honda type factories in England so multiply Swindon by that and you would have to be very thick not to see the writing on the wall.

One of the reasons the Scots voted the way they did was because each time someone asked the question, what if you are wrong, what is plan B, they had no answer.

We too now need to ask that same question. Walking away is the easy part in any marriage – asking to be taken back after the other side of the grass is seen not to be so green after all is much more difficult.

Burning your bridges stops your enemy from following you, which they probably did not want to do anyway, but it also stops you going back, which in almost every situation means you lose in the long run.

What if the EU change their rules after we have left, making imports from outside the EU more costly; half of everything we make goes to them?

What if the international finance companies in London do not want to have to change currencies every time they make a transaction?

What if America decides she does not need us any more now that she cannot use us as a back door into Europe?

There are so many what ifs and not enough answers that to jump without a parachute would be folly of the greatest magnitude.

Let’s follow our canny Scots brothers and sisters and settle for what we have. Better the devil you know, not what someone tells us we could have if we listen to them – loneliness is for a long time and not pleasant at all.

Roy Cartwright Covingham, Swindon