From football to finance, there are plenty of reasons to be cheerful #DespiteBrexit

"THE CHAMPIONS!" These two soaringly melodic words from the Champions League anthem perfectly encapsulate the prestige of being the best football club in Europe.

England is in the enviable position of knowing that it has won the cup a full three weeks ahead of the June 1 finale, with both Liverpool and Tottenham playing in the last match.

What’s more, the runners-up tournament, the Europa League, is also contested the English teams Chelsea and Arsenal.

Some may argue that these are not even the best teams in England, given that Manchester City are favourites to win the Premier League at the time of writing.

That argument underlines what a sparkling season this has been for the British national game. The talent on display has been breath taking. Tactical battles have been waged at level second to none. The drama has continued right to the final matches.

The mood outside the grounds, however, could not be more different. Britain is locked in a Brexit malaise that has poisoned national life. The feel-good factor from these world-beating teams is irresistible to beleaguered politicians. Theresa May, the prime minister, even sought to compare her own performance in Europe to Liverpool’s victory over Barcelona, after the side overcame a three-goal deficit in the first leg.

Mrs May is bent on delivering Brexit and her suggestion was that despite losing previous votes she would come good at the end. This allusion was not welcome in the overwhelmingly Remain-supporting city. Liverpool fans posed on social media carrying a banner stating: "Brexit is for [Manchester]. We're staying in Europe."

Longer-term lessons from on-the-pitch success are even less good for politicians, such as Mrs May.

The achievement of the English teams is testimony to investment in the Premier League brand, stretching back almost 30 years. It is also a product of an open country that has been willing to absorb foreign investment and talent. The Liverpool manager is German, and his Tottenham counterpart is Italian. Manchester City has benefited enormously from investment and strategic direction from the UAE, not to mention its Spanish.

One recent survey found that seven in 10 goals scored in the Premier League were accredited to foreign players. British football fans share this bonanza with the rest of the world, via international broadcasting deals.

Moving away from Europe poses obvious dangers to such soaraway success. The antidote for true believers is to mock the idea of this and to insist that other good news is happening under the hashtag #DespiteBrexit. This argument runs that Brexit has become a peculiar exercise in talking the country down. The opposite perspective is that Britain’s enduring claim on global attention and investment is proving its worth.

It is not just unprecedented sporting success that falls in the #DespiteBrexit category. Announcements of new jobs in the City of London and the regular purchases of big British businesses count too.

The recently published rankings of venture capital investments for 2018 puts London at number three in the list, behind Silicon Valley and New York, and tied with Beijing. The next European city, at a lowly number nine, is Paris.

There is no doubt that the wrangle over Brexit has damaged the UK’s international standing. Parts of the country seek to counterbalance the diplomatic malaise with fresh thinking on what they have to offer globally.

Recent studies published by the British Foreign Policy Group, a think tank largely dedicated to ideas on reinventing international policy, examined the value of Britain’s sport, culture, brands and ideas to its international reach.

One report, titled Manchester: Soft Power Entrepreneur looked at how the northern city, which is home not just to Manchester City but also Manchester United, not just earns hundreds of millions of pounds a year from the teams. It can also leverage its assets into deep and close ties to places like the Gulf and China.

At the report launch in the city, leading officials and others spoke of frustration that traditional institutions based in London had become bottlenecks for their ambitions. Harnessing its own global reputation and connections is already providing Manchester with opportunities that going through British embassies could not match. Known as plain speakers, some of the city’s leaders bristled to be told by one of the analysts they lacked only the confidence to make more of Manchester’s worldwide pull.

Other cities around the UK have similar stories to tell of going direct to the places where their unique skillsets and identities have greatest appeal.

The dominance of London, civil servants and the political class has long been an accepted fact. Once widely admired, they have now become liabilities. In football parlance, it really is time to kick that triumvirate out.

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