Seventwo - I've read my posts again and I've re-read your response. I have to say I'm baffled. My VERY point was that people have NOT looked at the bigger picture. As I said to Champs, the reaction to unrestricted immigration is totally understandable. In two generations everything has changed. My mum and dad had 19 brothers and sisters between them. One on my dad's side moved to Birmingham; one on my mum's went to Nottingham. The rest spent their whole lives in Gloucester - many of them in the same streets with the same neighbours. I remember my sister telling me how fascinated she was when she first saw a black face in the flesh just before WW2.
Two generations later, I'm living in New Zealand, having followed my children here, and most streets in England have a dozen different nationalities side by side.
It was never going to be easy. I go to a club locally. Some of the other members are scared by the Muslims in the building opposite. It's a pre-school centre.
I also agree with Despair that, all too often, the EU has been used to widen the useless free-market beliefs that have caused many of the world's economic problems. (That's why the hard-left are Euro-sceptic). On the other hand, this is the first time in history we have seen a DEMOCRATIC union that goes beyond the simple-minded nationalism that has been responsible for most of the wars throughout that history. Some of the idealists in Europe are genuinely upset, not because of trade-issues, but because the original vision has started to crumble. It's interesting that Germany has put the most effort into a the concept of a unified Europe. I suspect it's partly because they know better than anyone what rampant, isolationist Nationalism can lead to.
Beyond the wider issues, though, what a shambles! It looks as if no-one (except the Scots) had a plan as to what should follow a "leave"-vote. Already, the leaders of the pro-Brexit campaign are admitting that many of their promises were fanciful. It looks as if they thought that pulling up the drawbridge would simply solve all the problems overnight.
To repeat, I don't understand why my post has made you so angry. WHICH "one part of a bigger story" have I picked up and run with? My whole argument is based on looking at the issue from a long-term, political perspective, rather than a short-term socio-economic one.
If my ignorance knows no bounds, the same must be true of you because I completely agree with almost everything you've said in your post.