Brexit: What does it mean for Labour?

It’s done. We’re out.

The decision taken by the British people will effect everything. We’re already seeing the ramifications on the pound this morning. The nature of our security, immigration policy, and trade will all change – even the nature of Northern Ireland is thrown into some doubt.

The status quo, with the economy, defence and low-risk factor behind it, lost last night. It was a bonfire of the certainties.

Sunderland. Wigan. Hartlepool. Swansea. Middlesbrough. Birmingham. Stoke. Doncaster. Rochdale. The list goes on and on and on. Labour heartlands, voting Out.

While all eyes will be on the upcoming Tory civil war and David Cameron’s future, we can’t ignore the problem Labour now faces. All but 10 of our MPs were for Remain, and so many of our historically ‘safe’ seats disagreed. The link between the party and the people who built is crumbling.

Deny it at your peril. This wasn’t a warning. We’ve had the warnings, and over and over again we’ve ignored them. This is the lights coming on in the last chance saloon.

And make no mistake: this was about immigration. Don’t accept that now, and you never will. That’s fine, it’s a route, but it fundamentally changes what our support base looks like – and as a result, who we are as a party.

I’m from Blackburn. It voted to leave. Go and knock on in a white British council estate there and tell them immigration is good for the economy – the town has the second highest low wage, high benefit economy in the country. Tell them it’s about a housing shortage – the houses are there, they’re just not good enough. Tell them it’s not really about immigration, but other issues – in one of the worst places for social cohesion in the country. No wonder they don’t listen to Labour.

It doesn’t even matter that most immigration there isn’t from within the EU: the idea that you can clamp down on immigration in any way is attractive. It is too late to pretend it is a “proxy” for other issues. We either listen or we don’t.

What we learned last night is that our support is retreating into a few citadels, and everywhere else it is deeply, deeply vulnerable. Outside the big cities, especially in the north, we have lost all power to communicate with those we represent. That is a remarkable position to be in. We shouldn’t need to talk with them. We’re supposed to talk for them.

After Scotland, we can’t possibly hope to palm this off as a rejection of someone else. Every place we thought was safe we need to look at again. It was a bonfire of the certainties.

So what’s next? We need to work out what we want from renegotiation. What do we want in trade deals? What do we do about free movement? How do we protect workers’ rights?

And more than that, who do we want to vote for us?