The real issues were much broader and felt across the whole EU—an arrogant and undemocratic elite, its disastrous economic policies and an increasing gap between haves and have-nots, the first being the cause of the second and the second the cause of the third. To paraphrase what one disillusioned British voter told The Guardian: if you've got money, you vote in; if you ain't got no money, you vote out.

In this context, I would like to quote two poignant open letters from European friends that were sent out just before the UK referendum.

The first is from a group of prominent Greek opinion leaders. Their letter started with the

basic idea, as it was explained to the people in Europe, [which] was [that the EU] was a community of European nations in friendship, solidarity, mutual benefit and democracy: Basic European Values.