We did it. We really did it, just as I always hoped and suspected we would. If David Cameron had paid more attention to the prophetic words of the writer G. K. Chesterton, he might have seen it coming, too.

Chesterton is probably best known as the author of the Father Brown detective stories, recently made into a popular BBC television series. But it is his seminal poem The Secret People, published in 1907, which resonates down the ages, never more pertinently than today.

It is a glorious celebration of the stoicism and patriotism of ordinary British citizens, grown weary of being taken for granted, treated like cannon fodder and denied a voice in the corridors of power. Chesterton understood their innate conservatism, suspicion of authority and barely disguised contempt for the ruling class.

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'It is a glorious celebration of the stoicism and patriotism of ordinary British citizens, grown weary of being taken for granted, treated like cannon fodder and denied a voice in the corridors of power'

They have given us into the hand of new unhappy lords,

Lords without anger and honour, who dare not carry their swords.

They fight by shuffling papers; they have bright dead alien eyes . . .

We hear men speaking for us of new laws strong and sweet,

Yet is there no man speaketh as we speak in the street . . .’

So what’s changed?

Chesterton could have been writing about the arrogance of modern Westminster politicians and the ‘new unhappy lords’ of the EU. And he warns that the insular elite ignore his Secret People at their peril.

Smile at us, pay us, pass us; but do not quite forget,

For we are the people of England; who never have spoken yet.

Well, they have spoken now, to devastating effect.

Tired of decades of deceit, sick of being patronised at home and sold out in the salons of Europe, the Secret People of England (and Wales) have exacted their revenge. And although Remain secured majorities in Scotland and Northern Ireland, there were more than enough Secret People in those countries to ensure a convincing Leave victory across the United Kingdom.

It was instructive to watch the names of the constituencies voting Leave as they flashed up on the screen — Sunderland, Lichfield, Peterborough, Boston, Kettering, Great Yarmouth, Broxbourne.

Supporters of the Leave campaign celebrate at the Leave referendum party in London following the result

These are the unfashionable towns and cities you see embroidered on Union flags and St George flags behind the goals at international football tournaments and being waved by the Barmy Army at overseas England Test cricket matches.

This was a triumph for the decent, forgotten folk of Britain, the silent majority who form the backbone of our nation, the descendants of those who fought for freedom at the Somme, on the beaches of Normandy and in the skies above Kent.

Self-styled sophisticates may sneer at Nigel Farage, but in another lifetime he’d have been a Spitfire pilot fighting the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain. Most of his critics would have been desk-jockeys in Whitehall or conscientious objectors, if not outright collaborators.

He is a brave man, not only politically, but personally, who has stuck to his convictions in the face of disgusting verbal and physical abuse. Without him, we would never have been in a position to cast off the shackles of Brussels. He deserves a statue in Parliament Square — or a blue plaque outside the Red Lion in Whitehall, at the very least.

'The politicians might be making it all about them, but what we know for certain is that thanks to the courage of the British people we can look forward to once again becoming a proud, confident, independent nation'

If Boris Johnson and Michael Gove are serious about healing the divisions created by the referendum campaign, then they should invite Farage into their big tent and give him a key role in negotiating our Brexit. Thanks to Farage, this was our one chance to vote on a defining issue upon which we had been denied a say for over 40 years.

And we weren’t going to waste it. The referendum also afforded a unique opportunity to give the entire remote political class a bloody nose with a single blow.

Did Cameron really think we were going to pass it up?

From the moment the Prime Minister was panicked into giving the electorate a vote on our continued membership of the EU, it was game on.

Because of the way in which our electoral system works, many of us have grown accustomed to our aspirations and opinions being routinely ignored.

'We did it. We really did it, just as I always hoped and suspected we would. If David Cameron had paid more attention to the prophetic words of the writer G. K. Chesterton, he might have seen it coming, too'

Once MPs are elected to Parliament, they tend to go native and forget those who put them into office. Why else would 80 per cent of them have been in favour of staying in the EU?

If most of our elected representatives had had their way, there wouldn’t ever have been a referendum. Maybe that’s because they knew privately they were riding for a fall. Certainly, in the final weeks of the campaign, Call Me Dave wore the haunted look of a man who knew he’d made a terrible mistake.

He only agreed to the referendum in a cynical attempt to address internal Tory party disagreements, not because he genuinely wanted to give ordinary voters the final say on the EU.

Maybe his unexpected General Election success last year went to his head. But the way in which he conducted this campaign smacked of hubris. And we all know what follows hubris — nemesis.

So in the end he had no option but to fall on his sword. He’d been roundly rejected by the voters who put him into office one short year ago. Did he really think he could bully and threaten the British people into doing what he said, against their better judgment and personal experience?

We don’t as a nation respond well to bullies. Just ask Hitler and Arthur Scargill, to pick a couple of names at random.

'Tired of decades of deceit, sick of being patronised at home and sold out in the salons of Europe, the Secret People of England (and Wales) have exacted their revenge'

It didn’t have to be like this. If Cameron had stuck to his word and led the Leave campaign when he failed to squeeze a single meaningful concession out of our so-called EU ‘partners’ he could have secured his place in history alongside Churchill and Mrs Thatcher. Instead, he’ll be remembered as one of life’s losers.

Maybe because underneath it all he’s an Old Etonian, a wealthy former member of the Bullingdon Club, he really didn’t understand the true nature of those he purported to represent.

Undoubtedly he instinctively feels more at home around the lobster supper tables of Strasbourg than in a chip shop in Chesterfield.

That would explain why he came to see his role as representing the interests of Europe in Britain, rather than standing up for Britain in Europe. Then again, from Heath to Blair to Major, they all do.

Boris is a Bullingdon boy, too, but he has an uncanny ability to relate to the great unwashed. Even if he did agree to join Leave purely because he saw it as a stepping stone to No 10, then good luck to him. Along with Michael Gove, he’s had a good war.

'Thanks to Farage, this was our one chance to vote on a defining issue upon which we had been denied a say for over 40 years'

As for Labour, and its complete inability to empathise with its traditional supporters in the North and the Midlands, frankly who cares? And if Wee Burney wants to use this result as an excuse for Scotland to break away from Britain, join the euro and accept German rule, then on you go girl. As far as England’s concerned, it’s a case of: Missing you already.

Oh, and while we’re at it, what happened to George Osborne’s emergency Budget and the millions of redundancy notices which were going to be issued yesterday morning after we voted Leave?

In the event, the Secret People of England (and Wales, and quite a lot of Scotland and Northern Ireland) put hope and optimism above fear, as we always will.

The politicians might be making it all about them, but what we also know for certain is that thanks to the courage of the British people we can look forward to once again becoming a proud, confident, independent nation, free to make our own laws, set our own taxes, make our own trade deals and control our own borders, without any interference from corrupt, unelected, unaccountable foreign judges and bureaucrats.

Just like Chesterton, I knew we were made of sterner stuff. Take a bow, Britain.

This is not a time for gloating, but what the hell. To paraphrase that manic Norwegian football commentator: