As Britain prepares to leave the European Union tonight, it continues to emote division and debate.
Far from being the end of the story, some commentators believe it is just the start. Brexit day has dominated yesterday's media opinion pages.
The Daily Telegraph
Allister Heath writes "we must hope that over time, more countries choose - and are allowed - to leave, that there will one day be a Frexit and a Danexit, that the euro will be dissolved in an orderly fashion and that the entire project will wither away, replaced instead by looser, liberal co-operation. Euroscepticism was never a selfish ideology. It was never just about returning self-government to Britain.
No genuine Eurosceptic ever claimed that it was fine for the Netherlands or Spain to have to swap democracy for technocracy, but unacceptable for the UK. If it was bad for us, it was also bad for them. Early Eurosceptic groups maintained close ties with fellow travellers from Europe: Vaclav Klaus, the Thatcherite former Czech president, was the guest at a Brexit Party rally last year.
Euroscepticism is the application to the EU of a universalist theory based on a broad set of principles:national self-government is better, over time, for peace, prosperity and liberty than belonging to technocratic superstructures;genuine democracy can only exist within a demos, such as as a nation;competition and co-operation between smaller, nimble, independent, liberal democracies is a better, more resilient way of organising the world than handling over power to gigantic, unresponsive political monopolies run by bureaucrat-kings."
The Scotsman
It's editorial takes on a reflective mood. It states "it was a beautiful gesture. After Members of the European Parliament voted to back the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, they sang Auld Lang Syne, Robert Burns' version of an old Scottish folk song about friendship, as a way to bid goodbye to the United Kingdom."
It goes on to say "the EU has helped keep the peace in Europe for a lifetime after millions died in two horrendous world wars. And the fact the UK and Ireland were both members meant those who were prepared to commit murder in Northern Ireland's Troubles began to look as foolish as they were callous and brutal.
There are legitimate criticisms to be made of the EU and it should take Brexit as a sign of the need for reform. But it is of profound regret that the UK is leaving and The Scotsman wishes our "auld acquaintance" all the very best."
The Times
As the Scottish Parliament continues to fly the EU flag after Brexit, The Times asks what should the leave voters make of that decision.
Its editorial says "Symbolism is important. Alyn Smith, the former SNP member of the European parliament, made a moving final speech to MEP colleagues asking them to "keep a light on" in Brussels so that Scotland could find its way back to the fold after independence. European allies of the SNP duly gathered this week and were pictured holding candles to represent their hope that Scotland would return.
"The Holyrood parliament is not there only to represent those Scots who voted to remain tied to Brussels in the 2016 referendum. Almost two in five Scots voted to leave. They might be forgiven for thinking that the Holyrood parliament no longer represented them.
"There is a reason why a flag with the SNP logo does not fly above the Holyrood parliament, just as a red rose did not fly when Labour was the largest party. The reason is that Holyrood is the parliament of all the people of Scotland. At present the Saltire, the Union flag and the EU flag fly outside Holyrood as an expression of the existing constitutional reality. After tomorrow [Friday] the EU flag will no longer be appropriate.
"We need to draw a line and move on. Brexit is a fact. The SNP needs to recognise this and stop pretending it is still fighting to stop it. Nicola Sturgeon's ministers would be better employed working on ways to defend and indeed advance Scotland's interests in the changed political landscape that Brexit creates. They could be focusing on hospitals, schools and fighting crime.
"Yesterday's [Wednesday] digression over flags is unfortunate. It has damaged the credibility of the parliament in the eyes of those many members of the public who want politics to be about more than just symbolism."
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