Michael Caine:
"I voted for Brexit. What it is with me, I'd rather be a poor master than a rich servant,"
I think he was quite honest!
That's what I for a long time have guessed too...most Brexiters wouldn't had a thing against the EU if it would be ruled from London, not from Brussels instead....it isn't the Union which is wrong here...it's that they themselves don't feel they have the place they think they deserve.
The Empire back then was so nice and easy compared to the EU, they were the lone top dog....but in the EU....sharing power....the equals of...say....Malta...and with them Germans on top too! For what did we win 2 WW's and 1 World Cup? Huh?:)
That's much more honest than to accuse the EU all the time for one wrongdoing or another!
To find their place in the new world that is something the Brits....or better said, the English.....have to find out....nobody can help them with that, that just needs time (and another generation or two).