This EU referendum has been the most extraordinary political event of our lifetime. Never in our history have so many people been asked to decide a big question about the nation’s future. Never have so many thought so deeply, or wrestled so hard with their consciences, in an effort to come up with the right answer.

It has been a gruelling campaign in which we have seen divisions between family and friends and colleagues – sometimes entirely amicable, sometimes, alas, less so. In the end, there was a clear result. More than 17 million people voted to leave the EU – more than have ever assented to any proposition in our democratic history. Some now cast doubt on their motives, or even on their understanding of what was at stake.

It is said that those who voted Leave were mainly driven by anxieties about immigration. I do not believe that is so. After meeting thousands of people in the course of the campaign, I can tell you that the number one issue was control – a sense that British democracy was being undermined by the EU system, and that we should restore to the people that vital power: to kick out their rulers at elections, and to choose new ones.

I believe that millions of people who voted Leave were also inspired by the belief that Britain is a great country, and that outside the job-destroying coils of EU bureaucracy we can survive and thrive as never before. I think that they are right in their analysis, and right in their choice. And yet we who agreed with this majority verdict must accept that it was not entirely overwhelming.

There were more than 16 million who wanted to remain. They are our neighbours, brothers and sisters who did what they passionately believe was right. In a democracy majorities may decide but everyone is of equal value. We who are part of this narrow majority must do everything we can to reassure the Remainers. We must reach out, we must heal, we must build bridges – because it is clear that some have feelings of dismay, and of loss, and confusion.

I believe that this climate of apprehension is understandable, given what people were told during the campaign, but based on a profound misunderstanding about what has really taken place. At home and abroad, the negative consequences are being wildly overdone, and the upside is being ignored.

And:

We should be incredibly proud and positive about the UK, and what it can now achieve. And we will achieve those things together, with all four nations united. We had one Scotland referendum in 2014, and I do not detect any real appetite to have another one soon; and it goes without saying that we are much better together in forging a new and better relationship with the EU – based on free trade and partnership, rather than a federal system. 

I cannot stress too much that Britain is part of Europe, and always will be. There will still be intense and intensifying European cooperation and partnership in a huge number of fields: the arts, the sciences, the universities, and on improving the environment. EU citizens living in this country will have their rights fully protected, and the same goes for British citizens living in the EU. 

British people will still be able to go and work in the EU; to live; to travel; to study; to buy homes and to settle down. As the German equivalent of the CBI – the BDI – has very sensibly reminded us, there will continue to be free trade, and access to the single market. Britain is and always will be a great European power, offering top-table opinions and giving leadership on everything from foreign policy to defence to counter-terrorism and intelligence-sharing – all the things we need to do together to make our world safer. 

The only change – and it will not come in any great rush – is that the UK will extricate itself from the EU’s extraordinary and opaque system of legislation: the vast and growing corpus of law enacted by a European Court of Justice from which there can be no appeal. This will bring not threats, but golden opportunities for this country – to pass laws and set taxes according to the needs of the UK. 

David Fuller's view

Here is a PDF of this article for any subscriber who does not have full access to The Telegraph’s excellent online service. 

I commend the rest of Boris Johnson’s article to all who visit this site.  Yes, it is upbeat and so it should be, given the need to reunite and also re-energise people following a gruelling and too often contentious referendum campaign. 

Passions ran high, understandably, given the importance of this vote.  However, there was far too much negative campaigning, not least ‘Project Fear’ from the Remain side.  This alarmed younger and vulnerable voters while angering the more experienced.  Tactically, it was a huge mistake by David Cameron and George Osborne, all but ending their often distinguished careers.  It revealed a distrust of democracy, which we have long seen from the EU, where many decisions are viewed as too important to be decided by elections.  Instead, tell people what to do and threaten them into submission.  Alternatively, if local governance makes the ‘wrong’ decision, bureaucracies in failing democracies often reverse policies they do not favour a short while later, as we have seen with the EU.  This drains nations of their vitality and eventually leads to rebellion, as we have just seen.

If Cameron and Osborne had put constructive leadership before political ambition, they could have outlined the pros and cons of the Remain/Brexit debate as objectively as possible, some weeks ago.  They could have expressed their own views while adding that it was for the electorate to decide the outcome of this unique referendum, by which they would abide. 

Looking ahead, the EU is likely to be in far greater turmoil than the UK.  Other countries are demanding their own referendums and we will hear much more about this over the next year or two.  The EU has been losing the support of its people, as everyone familiar with the situation knows only too well.  Britain’s departure from the EU, although certainly not Europe as Boris Johnson has pointed out, may be a catalyst for constructive, more democratic reform within the EU.  On the other hand, it could be the beginning of the end for the Euro and the EU’s ambition of a federal state.  I would not be surprised if the EU is very different in a year or two from what people have seen over the last decade or more.