The vote does not, technically, bind the government: it is an expression of the wishes of the people. The UK must formally inform the Commission of its intention to leave by invoking Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon.

There will be a period, which some have said might be as long as until 2020, during which the UK negotiates its future relationship with the EU. That will be complicated because the UK's decision will destabilise much of the EU from a political and, even, economical position.

France and Italy have elections due within the next year: both have strong Eurosceptic parties. They will gain enormous support as a result of the UK's decision. Unfortunately, none of those parties have any experience of government and therefore a domestic protest vote against the EU will lead to serious political uncertainty or, even, paralysis. Germany also has an election next year and there is massive popular concern about EU policies on the economy and immigration, even though it is their own government which has largely driven it.

During the campaign, the Remain camp made much of supposed economic harm to the UK if there was a vote to leave. But neither side made it clear that the EU has its own deep economic woes that themselves created a substantial risk for the UK.

While many are touting the decision as an attack on the present Conservative government but in truth, insofar as that is true, it is more likely a vote on the leadership: PM Cameron and Chancellor Osborne who ran a campaign of smear and fright. The Conservative Party as a whole did not take an official position.

The Labour Party, on the other hand, threw its full political weight behind the “Remain” campaign. Yet its leader, Jeremy Corbyn, remained ambivalent. The Labour Party tossed out smear and fright, too, but mostly it relied on the idea that the British “working class,” which it purports to represent, would do as it was told.

While writing this article, this author has watched as the numbers moved inexorably towards a formal victory and, right at this moment, the Leave camp has received so many votes that no matter what happens after this, Remain cannot get enough votes to win. Amongst the startling information is this: the City of London, the financial centre with a tiny residential population, voted with 75% selecting Remain.

It is important to realise that the UK has not left the EU. It has voted to leave and now a process of extraction begins.

Now the most urgent task is for the Remain campaigners to un-make many of the statements they made during the campaign. Their fright factors did not work on the electorate but it has worked on the currency and stock markets. In another, brutal, lesson : the markets relied on economists and their projections and, as usual, they did not look at the people. For those who bothered to ask, all the signs, for weeks, were for a narrow Leave victory. Even Leave is surprised by the extent of their victories.

It is disturbing that the BBC, in the hands of David Dimbleby, got history wrong: announcing the BBC's conclusion that Leave would win before the result was known he said that the UK voted to join the EU in 1975. In fact, the preceding Labour government had already entered the UK into Europe: the 1975 referendum was whether to stay. On that occasion, it did.

Sinn Fein, the Irish nationist party in Northern Ireland, is now talking about a campaign to unify Ireland under the Republic. The Scottish Nationalist Party is talking about leaving the UK to remain in Europe in its own right.

On balance, across England and Wales, there is a clear indication that there is a rejection of London-centric government, too.

Turmoil in the markets is a self-fulfilling prophesy and there is no doubt that speculators, both professional and piggy-backing individuals, are having a significant impact. As the pound falls, UK exports will become less expensive and, given the UK's heavy dependence on tourism, the fact that foreign holidays will cost more, encouraging UK residents to stay at home this summer and increase the UK's attraction to foreign visitors. However, the currency market has fallen so far so fast that the speculators will, soon, have to buy back either to cover their positions or because they are, in effect, profit taking.

Perhaps there is another view: is the UK better out now than being a part of the managed (or, worse, not managed) decline of the European project.

That, it is here submitted, is a very good thing.