The Bishop of Blackburn has said the 2016 Brexit vote was not driven by racism, but by “national pride”.

Rt Revd Philip North is the Church of England’s spiritual leader for one of the country’s most pro-Brexit regions; every borough in the Diocese of Lancashire voted Leave.

“Some were saying it was simply a xenophobic, racist vote, others saying it was a protest vote, an angry vote,” he told the Express. 

“What I saw was actually people voting for a particular vision of nation.”

He added that some believed “national identity had been eroded over a number of years by a kind of globalist EU project, by other pressures and forces".

Bishop Philip argued that Brits should be unafraid to reclaim “national symbols” for good, and that many feel embarrassed to express “pride in nationhood, pride in the Royal Family and in the Armed Forces, as if that is somehow a language of the past".

He added that he believes the country is nevertheless experiencing “the same division” it was during the Brexit era, and warned against harbouring “isolationist” feelings toward one’s neighbours.

“We need to find a balance where we're proud of nationhood but are not isolationist," he said. "We must have strong alliances with Europeans and with other colleagues, for the sake of global security.”