And I still do, to a certain extent.

The EU bureaucracy is an unelected and self-appointed bunch of corrupt careerist paper shufflers answerable to no one but themselves, who craft rules and regulations without the consultation and consideration of the member states. Any doubt about this should be erased by the latest pronouncements of the EU leadership on how to deal with the UK revolt. Instead of trying to understand why and how this happened, and to perhaps suggest that Brussels should spend more time attempting to understand the concerns and criticisms of their members, they are already devising ways to punish the UK for its action, in an admitted attempt to discourage other states from following suit--through intimidation and threat. In other words, they're talking stick, not carrot.

But as you point out, the fascist support (here, in Britain, and in Europe) for the potential breakup of the EU seems to be gravitating primarily about nativist and racist concerns, extreme populism and nationalism. Whatever problems may exist with the EU (and I believe there are plenty) the motivation to make this break, and certainly the most vocal reactions to it) are all coming from the usual suspects for the usual reasons. Its no wonder they sound so hauntingly familiar.

Its not surprising that the bulk of the motivation for this action is from the English, with only lukewarm support from Wales, and even less from Scotland. Northern Ireland, of course, voted with England, they are more English than the English, and terrified of the Catholic Irish in their midst and across the border. And it is no surprise the vote for separation was strongest among rural, small-town and lower-educated Britons.

At the risk of being accused of racism myself, I can't help that notice that Anglo-Saxon England, with its long history of Empire and and its often brutal subjugation of the other (Celtic) nations of the British Isles led this effort. And it is little coincidence that many of the so-called "white" and "conservative" sector of the American population identifies with Anglo-Saxon England. Of course, this has nothing to do with "race", no genetic test can be used to differentiate amongst the peoples of the British Isles, but there are vast cultural and ethnic differences between them. Not only have the English always had a profound contempt for the "wogs" in their Empire, and the Frogs and Dagoes in Europe, but that contempt has been carried on to the Scots, Irish and Welsh. And of course, the English have historically been divided profoundly in other ways as well, regionally, linguistically, by wealth, and by class. Especially by class.

No, I'm not blaming Brexit on racism, if I were a British subject I might have well voted for leaving the EU myself, for the reasons I detailed above. But as a close reading of the essay Rob linked us to reveals, racism and bigotry certainly played a part in that decision.