On Thursday 48.1% of the electorate voted Remain, and for open borders with the EU. Of the 51.9% who didn’t 49% voted to ensure “that decisions about the UK should be taken in the UK”. Yet more voted for trade and over concerns about the acquisition of more “members and powers”.

You can download the data and see the derivation. In the meantime, have a graph:

Many of the 17% who were voting for “control over immigration” are not racists. It is perfectly possible to have concerns about the impact of immigration, and indeed, concerns about immigrants, which are not a priori racism.

How much room is there left for real racists once you take out all these other groups? The answer is very little. Yet to hear the the media speaking now, you would think that 17 million secret racists just stood up an announced their affiliation to the BNP. Looking at objective data this cannot possibly be the case.

The media narrative – the narrative which is perhaps now emboldening real racists to do harm – is simply false. The majority of voters put another factor ahead of immigration before they voted, and they will do so again.

This is of crucial importance for another reason. It means there is no strong mandate for new restrictions at the border, and that a smooth exit to an EEA, including one with the free-movement of people, is achievable.