BREXIT has brought a consequence unwelcome to me. It has boosted the prospects of the firm that intends to scar the North York Moors with the world’s biggest potash mine.

But I’m not complaining. The blame for that colossal vandalism lies squarely with the compliant North York Moors national park authority, which abandoned its prime duty to protect a landscape of national importance.

Having won approval for its mine, near Whitby, it’s only natural that Sirius Minerals is keen to get on it Brexit has made that easier. Chris Fraser, Sirius’s managing director, explains that the global market for potash “has not been affected by Brexit.

Leaving the EU does not have a negative impact on our business at all.” On the contrary, Brexit has “done wonders” for the company’s shares, possibly hastening a start on construction, within this year.

So the “several thousand” people expected to find work at the mine and in related activities will have Brexit to thank for at least their early wage packets.

Meanwhile, disgruntled Remainers, demonstrating their anti-democratic default position, continue to bleat about the result.

Tony Blair, for instance, argues that the narrow Brexit win has left almost half the population feeling “disenfranchised.” He hints there could be a second referendum: “There’s no rule. We’re a sovereign people, we can do what we want.”

This is the same Tony Blair under whose leadership the Labour Party insisted that the referendum vote that established the Welsh Assembly was once-and-for-all, even though the margin of victory was a barely perceptible 0.6 per cent – 50.3 against 49.7.

And only half the electorate bothered to vote.

The very worst thing we can do now is talk down the country. Blaming every downturn on Brexit could become self-fulfilling. So let me end with another potential Brexit positive.

Women drivers may enjoy lower insurance rates, as insurers consider ditching an EU requirement for rates to be ‘gender neutral’ even though records show that women, overall, are the safer drivers. This illustrates the EU’s grip on thousands of domestic matters. Aren’t we the best judges of who should pay what to drive on our roads?

COME the dog-rose in hedges, gone’s the sweetness of the May: a lament for the passing seasons, as mirrored in blossom, by Walter de la Mare. Never have I observed wild roses in greater profusion than this year. A lane at Grosmont that my wife and I walked along the other day was ablaze. Driving past Stokesley’s sportsfield I noticed that two big displays in its hawthorn hedge had been spared by the hedgecutter, who obviously has an eye for beauty. Painstakingly doing the same for some blooms in my hedge, I rediscovered that the wild rose, for all the delicacy of its flowers, has the sharpest of thorns.

HAIL Andy Murray. Not just for his tennis but a Wimbledon victory speech to treasure.

He thanked his opponent, his opponent’s coaches, paid homage to the “legends” in the royal box, and even had a comforting word for the watching PM. Andy’s tennis is obviously not all-consuming, though the way he plays you’d think it is.