Britain has just committed an act of self-harm. Nine out of 10 economists warned that leaving the European Union would make people poorer, yet that is what they have chosen.

Working class Britons have treated this momentous referendum as a protest vote to register their anger with globalisation, immigration and elitism. The consequence of their decision will rock establishments across the world and in Europe in particular, which has been so connivingly smug for years. It should take a large share of the blame.

However, it will be the less well-off for whom the decision will reverberate financially. No one realised quite how angry they were.

If Britons have any doubt about the consequence of the decision, the wrecking ball they have taken to their