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Former Prime Minister David Cameron has broken his long silence on Brexit, confessing in new memoirs that he is "truly sorry" for the chaos and rancour that has engulfed Britain after it voted to leave the European Union three years ago.
"I failed," Cameron concedes in his book, "For the Record," excerpted on Saturday in the London Times.
The memoirs are artfully revealing. Cameron both covers his posterior and concedes some mistakes - of strategy and timing, mostly. He admits he is today "depressed" about Brexit; he charges that the current prime minister, Boris Johnson, was a major misleader; and he confesses he smoked a lot of dope during his Eton school days - sneaking off to an island in the River Thames to get "off my head" on marijuana.
It was Cameron who confidently called for the June 2016 Brexit referendum - and it was Cameron who led the muddled, muted campaign for Britain to remain in the European Union.
After Brexit won 52% to 48%, Cameron quickly resigned, notably caught on a hot mic humming a tune as he strode away from the podium in front of 10 Downing Street.
Many Britons blame Cameron for today's Brexit quagmire, branding the former prime minister "the man who broke Britain."
Cameron's critics say the British public was never really clamouring for the 2016 referendum and that Cameron called it only to quell internal squabbles in his fractious Conservative Party and to quiet the rabid Tory tabloids.
Cameron confesses the whole thing quickly devolved into a "terrible Tory psychodrama."
In an interview with the Times newspaper, as a part of the book's pre-publication publicity campaign, Cameron labelled Prime Minister Johnson's possible "no-deal" Brexit "a bad outcome."
He also warned that the country might be forced to stage a second referendum on whether to leave the European Union.
"I don't think you can rule it out, because we're stuck," said Cameron, who served as prime minister from 2010 to 2016.
In his memoir and interview, Cameron charges that his former political chums - Johnson and his sidekick, the current government minister in charge of carrying out Brexit, Michael Gove - misled voters in 2016 about the swell benefits of leaving Europe.
Cameron calls his former friend Gove "mendacious" and says Gove and Johnson behaved "appallingly" during the 2016 referendum.
Cameron points to their false pro-Brexit claims that Turkey was about to join the European Union (it wasn't) and their suggestions that soon Britain would be flooded by millions of Turkish Muslim immigrants (never happened).
While he does not call Johnson or Gove liars, Cameron said the pair "left the truth at home" when they claimed, for example, that leaving Europe would produce a $440 million a week windfall to fund the country's beloved National Health Service.
"Boris had never argued for leaving the EU, right? Michael was a very strong Eurosceptic, but someone whom I'd known as this liberal, compassionate, rational Conservative ended up making arguments about Turkey and being swamped and what have you. They were trashing the government of which they were a part, effectively," Cameron told the newspaper.
Cameron later said in an interview published Sunday that Johnson didn't really believe in Brexit when he broke ranks and led the campaign to take Britain out of the EU. Cameron had been expecting Johnson's help during the hard-fought campaign.
Cameron says of Johnson: "The conclusion I am left with is that he risked an outcome he didn't believe in because it would help his political career."
Cameron said in an interview published Sunday that Johnson didn't really believe in Brexit when he broke ranks and led the campaign to take Britain out of the EU. Cameron had been expecting Johnson's help during the hard-fought campaign.
Cameron says of Johnson: "The conclusion I am left with is that he risked an outcome he didn't believe in because it would help his political career."
In a bit of a side-dish, Cameron remembers Johnson's curren...
Former Prime Minister David Cameron has broken his long silence on Brexit, confessing in new memoirs that he is "truly sorry" for the chaos and rancour that has engulfed Britain after it voted to leave the European Union three years ago. "I failed," Cameron concedes in his book, "For the Record," excerpted on Saturday in the London Times. The memoirs are artfully revealing. Cameron both covers his posterior and concedes some mistakes - of strategy and timing, mostly. He admits he is today "depressed" about Brexit; he charges that the current prime minister, Boris Johnson, was a major misleader; and he confesses he smoked a lot of dope during his Eton school days - sneaking off to an island in the River Thames to get "off my head" on marijuana. It was Cameron who confidently called for the June 2016 Brexit referendum - and it was Cameron who led the muddled, muted campaign for Britain to remain in the European Union. After Brexit won 52% to 48%, Cameron quickly resigned, notably caught on a hot mic humming a tune as he strode away from the podium in front of 10 Downing Street. Many Britons blame Cameron for today's Brexit quagmire, branding the former prime minister "the man who broke Britain." Cameron's critics say the British public was never really clamouring for the 2016 referendum and that Cameron called it only to quell internal squabbles in his fractious Conservative Party and to quiet the rabid Tory tabloids. Cameron confesses the whole thing quickly devolved into a "terrible Tory psychodrama." In an interview with the Times newspaper, as a part of the book's pre-publication publicity campaign, Cameron labelled Prime Minister Johnson's possible "no-deal" Brexit "a bad outcome." He also warned that the country might be forced to stage a second referendum on whether to leave the European Union. "I don't think you can rule it out, because we're stuck," said Cameron, who served as prime minister from 2010 to 2016. In his memoir and interview, Cameron charges that his former political chums - Johnson and his sidekick, the current government minister in charge of carrying out Brexit, Michael Gove - misled voters in 2016 about the swell benefits of leaving Europe. Cameron calls his former friend Gove "mendacious" and says Gove and Johnson behaved "appallingly" during the 2016 referendum. Cameron points to their false pro-Brexit claims that Turkey was about to join the European Union (it wasn't) and their suggestions that soon Britain would be flooded by millions of Turkish Muslim immigrants (never happened). While he does not call Johnson or Gove liars, Cameron said the pair "left the truth at home" when they claimed, for example, that leaving Europe would produce a $440 million a week windfall to fund the country's beloved National Health Service. "Boris had never argued for leaving the EU, right? Michael was a very strong Eurosceptic, but someone whom I'd known as this liberal, compassionate, rational Conservative ended up making arguments about Turkey and being swamped and what have you. They were trashing the government of which they were a part, effectively," Cameron told the newspaper. Cameron later said in an interview published Sunday that Johnson didn't really believe in Brexit when he broke ranks and led the campaign to take Britain out of the EU. Cameron had been expecting Johnson's help during the hard-fought campaign. Cameron says of Johnson: "The conclusion I am left with is that he risked an outcome he didn't believe in because it would help his political career." Cameron said in an interview published Sunday that Johnson didn't really believe in Brexit when he broke ranks and led the campaign to take Britain out of the EU. Cameron had been expecting Johnson's help during the hard-fought campaign. Cameron says of Johnson: "The conclusion I am left with is that he risked an outcome he didn't believe in because it would help his political career." In a bit of a side-dish, Cameron remembers Johnson's curren... read more read less

4 years ago