Britain has made its choice.
It wants divorce from the European Union.
The margin might have been relatively thin, about 52% to 48%, but it was decisive nonetheless.
The voters of the United Kingdom have rejected the warnings of most economists and leaders and have decided the isles will stand apart.
They have scored an own goal.
Financial markets reacted the way they do to uncertainty.
They fell.
In fact, they plummeted.
The value of the British pound, already slipping in the face of the vote, dropped even further.
Investors rushed to the safer currency of the United States and to gold.
While the consensus of experts is the British economy will suffer, just how badly is difficult to determine.
There is a hope, given the complexities of economies and the unpredictability of forecasts, that the foolhardy stance might yet surprise with some beneficial outcomes.
The key is for calm - not something the markets do at all well - and everyone to work steadily through the processes.
British Prime Minister David Cameron's reaction is promising.
While he knows his time is up as a leading figure in the "remain'' camp, he will stay on long enough to allow for a transition.
Although his foolish promise to hold the referendum backfired badly, he is displaying dignity in difficult circumstances.
Scotland, not surprisingly, voted strongly to remain, 62% to 38%.
It is now expected to seek its own divorce from England because of more value in ties to Europe.
That would be a sad end to hundreds of years of the closest links, but something the English have brought on themselves.
The British, when it came to the polling booths, clearly voted with their hearts rather than their heads.
This is understandable because of the fear of being swamped by immigrants from Eastern Europe and immigrants and refugees from the Middle East and North Africa.
Many are also fed up with the rich becoming richer and the elite neo-liberals telling them what is best for them.
The same forces which are behind the popularity of Donald Trump in the United States and the far-right parties across Europe are present in England and Wales.
Add in the stubborn spirit of the British bulldog and the leave voters made their strong statement.
It is a vein Winston Peters taps into in New Zealand, one with which the Labour and the Greens in their educated and liberal attitudes cannot connect.
It is a determination to ignore the wishes and pronouncements of the elite, the metropolitan and the professionals.
Never mind it is these very same voters who will suffer when the Asian car plants manufacturing for Europe from Britain question their presence there.
Never mind when unemployment rises, as is expected, they will be the first out of work.
Never mind when the weak pound raises the cost of living and those cheap holidays to Spain or Greece.
Meanwhile, the educated, the professional, the consultants, and most of the moneyed class - although some could be caught up as financial firms move from London to Europe - will carry on doing very nicely thank you.
This new Britain will lose the protection of EU labour laws and farmer subsidies are likely to be reviewed.
The whole question of trade agreements comes into question.
Europe itself is weakened.
Isolationism is seldom beneficial.
The divorce from the EU takes at least two years, and the prognosis for everyone concerned will depend in significant part on the attitude of other EU countries.
Are they ready to work pragmatically with an independent Britain or will sentiments of exclusion and punishment come to the fore?
After all, the EU does not want other states to follow the same path.
While the British vote is disappointing, it must be hoped the impacts are less than
feared for the sake of the British people and, to a lesser extent, the rest of the world.
