> Ironically, Britain’s relations with the EU unraveled when its self-iden­tity was under stress, with Northern Ireland and Scotland increasingly like­ly opting

> Ironically, Britain’s relations with the EU unraveled when its self-iden­tity was under stress, with Northern Ireland and Scotland increasingly like­ly opting to secede from the UK, a fracture along ancient cultural lines that’s the norm for modern societies. This isn't a symptom, it's the cause (imho). Brexit was only popular with nationalist English people. Because England has been submerged into Britain the longest (to the point that being English is almost synonymous with being British), and actually having any kind of English nationalism is actually pretty new. The UK was always a reluctant, annoying member of the EU, because we basically thought of ourselves as The British Empire and the EU as a trade treaty and nothing more. Germany and France make no secret of their desire for political union, and that's not really compatible with the British. We have to get rid of the British Empire before we can properly join the European one. So I believe that the UK will break up in the next 10 years or so. Scotland will be the first to go, and rejoin the EU immediately. That will trigger Northern Ireland (re)joining Ireland as it becomes clear the UK isn't actually a thing any more. The Welsh will take a good long look at themselves and decide to stay with England after all. Then England-and-Wales (just "Britain" again I guess - the old Roman territory) will rejoin the EU. Now that the English are free of the dreams of Empire and are no longer submerged into Great Britain, we'll be able to contribute to the European Adventure and stop being such awkward holdouts. That's my take on Brexit, anyway. I'll be fascinated to see how it all goes. Especially since I'm living in Berlin and it's starting to matter ;)