The thing is. Brexit vote was a referendum, not a decision of "deep state" or whatever one might call it.
And if you remember, there were two main topics surrounding Leave campaigns:
1. We pay to the EU more than we get - which was absolutely correct btw.
2. Anti-immigration sentiments - which is sad if that's a synonym for racism. At the same time, the UK has changed extremely in the past 7 decades. From a white Christian country with very distinctive culture became an extremely multicultural country with places where "natives" are a minority. I am pro-immigration and pro-multiculturalism, but I can understand why some people have an issue with such a quick change.
I know OP is stating that as an opinion, but I don't think it is based on a knowledge of the UK reality and there would be very little evidence supporting it.
Don't mistake the purpose of the voters themselves for the purpose of the campaign for their votes, especially not in the eyes of others.
The voters got targeted messaging for what they were most likely to believe, but taken as an aggregate the campaigns were contradictory.
(This also means that most people who say they aren't getting the Brexit they voted for are probably sincere and justified in that, even though people like me did tell them this at the time).
> We pay to the EU more than we get - which was absolutely correct btw.
As with recent claims of progress in nuclear fusion, it depends on where you draw the boundary of the system.
The EU, being a free trade agreement with the unusual extra layer of some democratic self-updating that most FTAs don't bother with, also made it easier to do business and thus create wealth.
I know this isn't important to your point, but I do find it rather bizarre that the EU, which is mostly white and Christian, got the flack from people who say they want a white Christian country.
That said, I saw such nonsense at the time, racists blaming the EU for too many Africans and Middle Easterners.
I would add a third pillar of the Brexit campaign to your two: "take back control", from all the people who didn't like the EU limiting what the UK could do. This included the Human Rights Act and ECHR even though that's technically not the EU.
Do you assume politicians pushing Leave were doing so to be able to limit human rights? People like Daniel Hannan or Nigel Farage would probably oppose that. One of founders of Vote Leave Matthew Elliott founded Big Brother Watch https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Brother_Watch
I think in this one, you aren't right. Prominent Vote Leave politicians are against state surveillance.
> The EU, being a free trade agreement with the unusual extra layer of some democratic
I think this shift has happened during M.Thatcher. Initially she was for the common market, but later she has learned about the political agenda that wasn't often in the interest of the UK. Honestly, it has started even before, I believe Enoch Powell will have older critical speeches on the same topic. It's nothing new in the British politics.
Which confirms:
> I would add a third pillar of the Brexit campaign to your two: "take back control"
Yes, absolutely. But not for the reason you say. Taking back control might really be based on the fact that many EU countries are way more left-leaning, financially irresponsible, poorer, etc. Taking back control equals decreasing influence of such countries on the reality of ordinary British citizen. But this is something that really goes back for many decades. It isn't something that would be suddenly used by surveillance-favouring people.
> EU, which is mostly white and Christian, got the flack from people who say they want a white Christian country.
People opposing such a quick change (out of racism, ignorance of benefits of immigration or pure conservatism) might see the EU as pro-immigration and pro-multiculturalism (which it openly is for a while now already). And again, leaving the EU might give people more powers to stop this from happening. The fact that it is hurting the UK a lot now is a different topic.
> Do you assume politicians pushing Leave were doing so to be able to limit human rights? People like Daniel Hannan or Nigel Farage would probably oppose that. One of founders of Vote Leave Matthew Elliott founded Big Brother Watch
Some were, some weren't. Broad tent is necessary for anything at this scale.
I'm surprised you list Frage among the supporters of human rights, given:
Hannan is quieter about it, and generally puts a positive hopeful tone through his speeches and writing, but still disfavours the institution and appears to believe that the UK doesn't need an outside court because, to paraphrase, "we're the goodies not the baddies": https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/717100/Conservative-...
(Though with him I will grant you he's so pathologically disconnected from the concept of truth existing in objective reality that it's difficult to say what his goals were beyond self-aggrandisement).
> Taking back control might really be based on the fact that many EU countries are way more left-leaning, financially irresponsible, poorer, etc
Eh, if that was a strong part of it, there wouldn't be so much anti-German sentiment.
And I saw a lot more people going "look how badly Greece was treated" than "Greece is what happens when you mess up, and they got lucky with a massive bailout".
> pro-immigration and pro-multiculturalism
Hmm.
Well, people do put things in a single category when words are similar, let alone identical, so I can believe this error occurred.
But I will still call it an error, as the "pro-immigration and pro-multiculturalism" I see in the EU is between EU countries rather than across the exterior borders. I take the view that, with the post-war meaning of the term, "Fortress Europe" is a thing (and that's bad): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortress_Europe
Obviously I acknowledge there are people who say that "it's not a thing and that's bad". Since the referendum, three such people have managed to combine holding the position (emphasis on "and that's bad") as the UK Home Secretary while also being the children of migrants from outside the EU.
And if you remember, there were two main topics surrounding Leave campaigns:
1. We pay to the EU more than we get - which was absolutely correct btw. 2. Anti-immigration sentiments - which is sad if that's a synonym for racism. At the same time, the UK has changed extremely in the past 7 decades. From a white Christian country with very distinctive culture became an extremely multicultural country with places where "natives" are a minority. I am pro-immigration and pro-multiculturalism, but I can understand why some people have an issue with such a quick change.
I know OP is stating that as an opinion, but I don't think it is based on a knowledge of the UK reality and there would be very little evidence supporting it.