One issue is it was a Yes or No question (but it couldn’t be anything else)…..
Agree with all you’ve said Dave, apart from the bit quoted above.
The problem started when Cameron thought he knew better than the country and offered the Referendum as a Yes/No – In/Out decision. That was only ever going to end badly.
What he should have done was offer up a list of maybe 20 problems the UK thought we were having with Europe – basically a list of everything that they’re all arguing the toss over now. Each voter would have 5 votes to show what they thought were the top priority subjects that needed re-negotiating with the EU. We then could have re-negotiated our relationship with the EU from within having the mandate they needed. Always a better option than upping and leaving.
I’m no remainer, although in the first vote back in the 70’s I thought it seemed to be too late to pull out as we were by then, too committed. Again a badly judged offer of choices. We should have taken the hint of the troubles to come when De Gaulle issued his infamous ” Non”.
The above is over- simplified, but you get the gist. It’s Cameron’s arrogance and posturing – trying to appease the dissenters in the country and his party. He thought the outcome would be Remain and his position in the Party and the country would have been solidified. Unfortunately we are paying the price for that arrogance – yes, he took the fall when he resigned, but that was more of a cop-out, riding on the shirt tails of his need to get the hell out of there, having mis-judged things so badly.
