There's a lot of clutching at straws going on at the moment. People coming out with political or legal theories, trying to interpret David Cameron's failure to immediately declare leaving under article 50 as kicking the whole issue into the long grass etc etc. This is the latest, like others it's more of an exercise in denial than it is in reality. Many of these things could come to pass, it's true, but each one carr…
Other way round. UK politics was already divided and unsettled, it's just that an illusion of stability and consensus has been pasted on the front. The cardboard facade has collapsed when asked to bear weight - just look at the leadership chaos!
This referendum and its result is really a result of dozens of problems which have been pushed under the rug. It's all the unexploded bombs of nasty controversies that were never properly defused, just piled up in a corner.
The "immigration" question covers lots of nasty questions, for example. What is the EU doing about refugees? Why has Sangatte festered for so long? What should the right response to radical islamist violence be? What is the economic function of towns whose businesses collapsed in the 70s and have not improved? What's going on in the "crap towns" like Great Yarmouth and Boston, Lincs.? Why are voters struggling to get GP appointments and school places?
What is the UK constitution? Don't say "unwritten", because that's not true; instead it's scattered bits and pieces from Factortame to the Good Friday Agreement. That's why we're having this discussion about Scotland blocking it - it's not clear how any of this works. Is it really a good idea that Parliament can make big constitutional changes by simple majority (e.g. Fixed Term Parliaments Act)? Why do we have so many different voting systems but use the crap one for the important election? Does the House of Lords count as "undemocratic" compared to, say, the EU commission?
What is the proper relationship of the non-English parts of the UK to the Union? Scotland regards Westminster as the distant, unaccountable elite and finds the distant, unnacountable Brussels elite more cordial. Despite the fisheries problem.
What should UK economic and employment policy be? Are we funding the current account deficit by selling houses to foreigners from kleptocratic states and China? Are we too dependent on financial services which are too centralised in London?
Was Greece treated fairly? What about Portugal, Ireland, Italy and Spain? What about the Polish constitutional crisis? Is Hungary run by Nazis? What if the Austrian election had gone differently?
Did you know the EU has a Trump-style border wall? It's in Bulgaria.
This twitter gives the view from Northern Ireland, which was "dangerously divided and unsettled" for years with malign neglect from the UK government: https://twitter.com/shockproofbeats
I'm sure that you, personally, have answers to all these questions. My point is that there is no broad consensus on all of them, they've nagged at the UK for years, and now they've all been made relevant.