Sadly I know plenty of thick, racist northerners and midlanders who have voted for brexit and are currently spouting off about 'all lives matter' and posting completely fake racist bullshit on social media.
Yes, not all leavers are these people but it was a significant number. Many people in their naice bubbles on mumsnet have little connection to these people so if they are leavers can't really appreciate how many there are out there. I'm from working class northern stock and live in an ex-coal mining area and have a lot of family, friends and acquaintances on social media and in real life who meet at least some of the typical stereotypes and I have had a lot of fruitless arguments with people who can't articulate any meaningful reasons to leave the EU that are not related to stopping foreigners being over here, bendy bananas or other misconceptions about about regulations that the UK government has total control of.
I of course accept that there are problems with the EU and it desperately needs reform. It is bureaucratic and high-handed at times. I also accept that there are communities (such as fishing) that have legitimate beef with the EU, but to me the potential for economic damage by leaving far outweighed these problems.
Even those these legitimate gripes exist, the reality of the referendum is that without stoking the xenophobia and racism endemic in many of these Northern and Midlands working class communities the Vote Leave and Leave.eu campaigns would not have mustered the numbers to get a majority in the referendum, which is why they did it.
But now the referendum is in the rear view mirror and in truth the guys in charge don't really give a shit about anyone but themselves. They are being bankrolled by a bunch of disaster capitalists and people looking to take advantage of a low regulation UK and are prepared to fuck over the very working class communities that they have mislead and egged on.
I'm educated with a lot of transferrable skills and a decent level of financial security so I'm hopeful about my ability to weather the storm of the coming cliff edge. The same can't be said for the car plant workers in the north east, many of whom voted to leave, despite being told the risks.
As such, I have little sympathy for anyone who voted leave and will be affected by the impact of Brexit. I heard and read the media and the campaigns and these people were warned, clearly and on multiple occassions about the potential risks, and it was dismissed as 'project fear'.