IN voting for Brexit the have-nots have spoken and smashed a rotten political system, including their own party that long since abandoned them even in their heartlands of our former coalfields.

But if we are to prevent political elites from taking back control this must be a Dunkirk moment, not only for our democracy, but also for Europe.

We cannot allow Ukip to have the last word in the EU that totally negates the sacrifice of the Somme.

One glimmer of hope is that chancellor Osborne has finally seen the error of his ways in imposing austerity when he had no need to follow the German finance minister’s catastrophic error of imposing austerity on the Eurozone, which has done so much damage to the economies of southern Europe, especially Greece.

After six wasted years of lost growth in chasing the chimera of a budget surplus through the deliberate impoverishment of the working poor to give tax cuts to the rich, we can finally have investment in infrastructure, which must include housing, education and healthcare as well as investment in our existing rail network to prevent the traffic pollution that adds to our health crisis.

But the only way to ensure that such self-harm is never inflicted again is through a new constitution to reform our parliament and our voting system so every vote counts and elections cannot be bought.

Margaret Phelps

Raisdale Gardens

Penarth