BOOK REVIEW: Ten years on from the Brexit referendum \u2018nightmare\u2019<\/a><\/p>\nIn June 2016 the UK voted by 52 per cent to 48 per cent to leave the EU. In Scotland the result was 62 per cent to 38 per cent in favour of remaining.<\/p>\n
Mr Miller points out in the book that European funding made a huge contribution to infrastructure projects in the north of Scotland, as well as bringing opportunities for social and cultural cooperation.<\/p>\n
At a seminar in Inverness this year it was noted that between 1975 and 2020 some \u00a37.7 billion of European money had been allocated to Scotland, with almost a fifth of that coming to the Highlands and Islands.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Highlands benefited enormously from EU funds,\u201d Mr Miller said during Friday\u2019s event. \u201cNobody knows exactly how much we got \u2013 it\u2019s very difficult to put a figure on it because money came in different ways for different projects.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was one man in Inverness who said, \u2018It\u2019s only our own taxpayers\u2019 money we\u2019re getting back.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cBut that\u2019s not strictly true. We were getting extra money because of the Highlands\u2019 economic position.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Jamie](\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg)
![\"Jamie](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/58K0OZ9IBIBTQLPDNIRI.jpg\")
Jamie Stone and James Miller outside the restored mill before their John O\u2019Groats Book Festival event on Friday. Picture: Alan Hendry<\/p>\n
Mr Stone, the Liberal Democrat MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, said afterwards: \u201cIt was a fascinating event.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were unrehearsed \u2013 we hadn\u2019t planned what we were going to say \u2013 and we got more out of it than we ever expected, either of us. Judging by the reaction of everyone here, we\u2019ve given a good night\u2019s value.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day, James Miller is a most impressive writer and I am going to make damn sure that the House of Commons library has a copy of his book.\u201d<\/p>\n
Entry to the event was free, as a result of support from Dunnet and Canisbay Community Council\u2019s micro-grant scheme.<\/p>\n
Book festival organiser Ian Leith said: \u201cThe John O\u2019Groats Book Festival tries to have different subjects and many different events, and we try different formats as well. This is the first time we\u2019ve done it really as a discussion or a conversation, and it seemed to work.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Jamie](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/N6WB6SAKZT0B5K6XBLTY.jpg\")
Jamie Stone and James Miller spent an hour or so in conversation about the latter\u2019s new book, Keeping the Light On: A Highland View of Brexit and the EU. Picture: Alan Hendry<\/p>\n
Copies of Keeping the Light On: A Highland View of Brexit and the EU were on sale afterwards and Mr Miller signed copies.<\/p>\n
Originally from Keiss, the author has lived near Inverness for many years. He considers himself a Caithnessian, a Highlander, a Scot, a British citizen and a European \u201call at one and the same time\u201d.<\/p>\n
Keeping the Light On: A Highland View of Brexit and the EU, by James Miller, is published by Scaraben Press (\u00a314.99). It can be ordered by email from scarabenpress@gmail.com and is on sale in bookshops in the north.<\/p>\n
Details of further John O\u2019Groats Book Festival events will be announced soon.<\/p>\n
Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here<\/a> to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"James Miller (third from left) and Jamie Stone (right) at John O\u2019Groats Mill with Walter Mowat (left) and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48516,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[13,8363,24359,346],"class_list":["post-48515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-britain","tag-britain","tag-community","tag-give-me-perspective","tag-latest-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116637149795524212","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"James](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/6FB62ANZH56KD1J2X4BH.jpg\")
James Miller (third from left) and Jamie Stone (right) at John O\u2019Groats Mill with Walter Mowat (left) and Ian Leith from the John O\u2019Groats Book Festival and Jeri Cormack, general manager of the mill. Picture: Alan Hendry<\/p>\n