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Brexit

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Original poster

To think that Boris didn't actually want Brexit to happen

326 replies

hownottofuckup · 25/06/2016 15:04

And that something else was afoot entirely?
Possibly with David's support, or knowledge at least.
There's been quite a bit about the divide between him and his family (not that that means much necessarily)
His propaganda for leaving was ridiculous in the extreme (£350 million a week for the NHS?)
His reaction since the results were announced
I can't help but wonder if he seriously misjudged the voting populace and this was never his intention at all. More a tactical move with a view to securing something else entirely, purely for his own personal gain.
You could never really accuse Boris of being in touch with the 'common people' after all.

OP posts:
BlunderWomansCat · 25/06/2016 15:40

Yes, I reckon he's hiding in a bunker somewhere. I genuinely think he was scared when confronted by the braying mob yesterday. He knows that our economy is fucked and his banker friends ain't happy.

SapphireStrange · 25/06/2016 15:41

Does anyone else think there will be another referendum?

I do. I think it's probably the only vaguely sensible way to go.

I don't see a particularly good outcome though – if we do go to another referendum and vote remain, we could be paving the way for civil terrorism; if we vote leave, the EU, which is already sick to the back teeth of our antics here, will not hesitate to give us the worst possible terms on continued free movement, trade deals etc.

I've recently read that the EU has already said it will not negotiate with us until we invoke Article 50; I don't know how true that is and can't remember or find the source now (sorry), but if it IS true then I've no reason to doubt that they will continue to play hardball and will let us go to a second referendum without putting any pre-agreements in place.

So voters could potentially go to a second referendum almost as ill-informed as we were this time round. Voting blind again. God knows what the result would be.

Globetrotter100 · 25/06/2016 15:42

I will not be surprised if on Monday he announces ref 2 on the back of the petition going round...simply because he doesn't want to go down in history as the twat who destroyed the United Kingdom.

And no, that's not hyperbole. It's reality and it's happening now.

ManonLescaut · 25/06/2016 15:42

Of course he didn't expect it, he knows it is a disaster for the country.

The Leave campaign was simply political gamble for him to garner enough popular support to replace Cameron as PM.

Privately he's always been supportive of the EU.

TrippyMcTrapFace · 25/06/2016 15:43

YANBU.

BombadierFritz · 25/06/2016 15:43

Just another eton debating society topic then ......oh shit its real!

ManonLescaut · 25/06/2016 15:43

And no, that's not hyperbole. It's reality and it's happening now

I know it's not. It's only the ignorant who are blissfully unaware.

throwingpebbles · 25/06/2016 15:43

Yanbu. January this year he was saying that leaving the EU at the moment would be an unmitigated disaster.

It was a career gamble for him. With disastrous consequences for the whole country.

ElspethFlashman · 25/06/2016 15:43

I have a sneaking suspicion that Gove and May will suddenly find very pressing "personal reasons" for not running in the PM race at all.

If they have any sense they'll back away, give Boris their full support and take a nice safe Minister for Sport job. Then in a few years when the very worst is over and life has settled down into the new normal, there'll be a coup.

Boris doesn't just want to be PM - he wants to be Churchill. Churchill was surrounded by people just waiting for the war to end so they could make their move. And he was kicked out on his arse in 1945. Be careful what you wish for indeed!

80sMum · 25/06/2016 15:44

Of course he didn't expect to win!! He knew that the Leave campaign was a bit of a farce from the outset (that NHS bus was almost comical).

The intention was not to win the referendum. Boris, along with most of us, assumed that the result was a forgone conclusion in favour of Remain.

No, he was only using the campaign to raise his political profile and further his career. DC was bound to step down at some point before the next election, and Boris was positioning himself to step up to the plate and take over, having won the support of the working classes by heading the Leave campaign.

FloatIsRechargedNow · 25/06/2016 15:44

Or......Cameron really wanted to Leave but for the sake of a stronger UK negotiating position fronted the Remain campaign. He might also have just wanted to resign anyway to, let's say, spend more time chilling out with Sam and the kids.

NameChanger22 · 25/06/2016 15:44

I think he seriously lacks the intelligence he needs; and he knows it. I wouldn't leave him in charge of a house plant.

Floisme · 25/06/2016 15:45

I have to admit that today, there's a small part (I stress, a very small part) of me thinking, ok pal, you wanted to become PM so here you are. Now off you go and sort this out. Oh and history will be watching.

I don't think it's quite what he had in mind.

NameChanger22 · 25/06/2016 15:46

I seriously hope we have a second referendum and people wise up in time.

GrumpyOldBag · 25/06/2016 15:47

YANBU.

Guardian has a good article saying just this:

www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/24/a-pyrrhic-victory-boris-johnson-wakes-up-to-the-costs-of-brexit

Moonax · 25/06/2016 15:47

Interesting. Also plausible. Boris has always seemed like an opportunist and if this is the risk he took, he's in for some very lively times. I'm quite sure he had a vision of himself as the man of the people PM who everyone would find a way to love because he's charismatic. Doubt that's going to happen now. If you're right, and he never thought Leave would happen, he's just made a very bad call for himself and he can look forward to being a massively unpopular PM for six months or another few years of waiting in the wings. I think he'll do the latter and won't necessarily be in a rush to put himself forward as a candidate. The man is smart, after all.

Re the EU itself, I don't see any way back from this. The EU would much rather we took ourselves away as quickly and quietly as possible and really, who can blame them? The last thing it needs is us sitting on the sidelines dithering when they're trying to hold together an increasingly fragile edifice.

80sMum · 25/06/2016 15:49

This about sums it up!

To think that Boris didn't actually want Brexit to happen
ElspethFlashman · 25/06/2016 15:49

All the reports in the papers today of DC allegedly saying "Why should I have to clean up their shit? " has me in suprising agreement with him.

This is Boris's shit to clean up.

Problem is also, Boris has been very popular with the public all his life. The public thought him an affable buffoon. He was made of Teflon and even when Petronella had an abortion he emerged unscathed and being on telly as much as ever. He is the sort who needs to be liked. I think he really is distressed by suddenly people treating him like a real politician!

Beeziekn33ze · 25/06/2016 15:49

Time for Boris to boast about his Turkish great grandfather and German Pffeffer antecedents perhaps.

lazysummer · 25/06/2016 15:49

I totally agree. He looked absolutely terrified on Friday morning. He should do the right thing, admit he was wrong and, like Farage, go on national TV saying the 350m a week to the NHS was a mistake.
It won't happen. Europe wants us out now, and who can blame them.
Cameron also took a career gamble by having a referendum now, when there is so much discontentment, a refugee crisis and a lot of fear. However, I believe Cameron thought he was doing the right thing. You can't say the same for Boris.

HandsomeGroomGiveHerRoom · 25/06/2016 15:51

I think they're bricking it that their fuckwittery will rank alongside the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in the chaos is could cause within Europe. Hyperbole maybe, but it must be on their minds.

KarlosKKrinkelbeim · 25/06/2016 15:51

You are spot on OP. The plan was fight a nasty and divisive campaign, Remain wins, and the Tpory grassroots are so pissed off with Cameron they force him out and BJ parachutes in.
the first bit worked.

onecurrantbun1 · 25/06/2016 15:52

Grumpy was just coming on to share that article. I really think he gambled on supporting leave in some sort of crazy, old-Etonian game and never thought it'd happen, hence the shitting himself and urging for a slow withdrawal.

Utter, utter knobend.

MitzyLeFrouf · 25/06/2016 15:52

'He does want to be PM. But I think he's a bit daunted at how angry and divided everyone is and how the job is an absolute poisoned chalice. There is literally nothing that he'll be able to negotiate that will be as good as the UK has had. The public mood could turn vicious against the new PM in a year.'

Yes, this is my take on it too. He really wants to be PM but not like this. He knows that a few months from now there may well be a fair bit of discontent in the country once those who voted Leave realise that they've been sold a pup and all the campaign promises have turned to dust. His time at the helm would not exactly be a popular one. Not to mention all his Tory enemies (of which he has a fair few) who will have already started sharpening their knives.

No, he will not have an easy time from either the public or from his own party.

I wonder if he'll think it was worth it.