In the aftermath of the historic British vote to leave the EU, openDemocracy is asking for our readers' thoughts on Brexit and what needs to happen next in 350 words. We've had an extraordinary response and you can read them all here.
As a white, working-class immigrant to The Netherlands I observed the run-up to 23 June from some remove. Nevertheless, discussing the vote with friends and watching the uninformed slanging matches that took place on Question Time, it was obvious that leave would win.
For me, it is clear that leave won by appealing to a streak of parochial nationalism that has been inculcated at all levels of UK society, over several decades, by the right-wing media. This is why those voting leave appeared to do so as an article of faith. Indeed, most seemed to wonder how anyone could think the EU anything other than rotten.
