What are we doing Brexit for? The question has been troubling me for weeks. I didn’t vote to leave the European Union but I thought I understood something of why others did. “Taking back control” of our borders, regulations and trade was clearly part of it. But on the streets from Hull to Barnstaple, the vote was almost certainly about something more fundamental, a howl of rage from those with nothing left to lose and a loathing of the political class.

They wanted to make the establishment deliver what it opposed and watch it squirm. It was a bitter joke, not funny, but laughter wasn’t the point. Beating the elite, making them listen, was an act of defiance — a vessel in which to pour