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

[hownottofuckup]

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.

There also won't be a 2nd referendum. The other EU members won't take the UK back. No way. The door has been slammed shut.

Oh and of course I never even mentioned the tidal wave of vitriol he'll be showered with by the 48% who are furious to have been dragged out of the EU.

In the way that Margaret Thatcher is reviled in some Northern parts for her treatment of the minors or Tony Blair for the Iran War, we will look back at Boris in the same way.

He suddenly realises this and can't cope.

I see no way back - a smaller, weaker Britain consisting of England and Wales. More migration as the French won't control the border in Calais. That's the future .

But from a legal perspective, if there were a second referendum, Remain won and the UK Govt said right, we've changed our minds, no repeal of ECA, no article 50 - is there any power in the EU treaties to force us out? I mean, I'm not saying it would be comfortable. Awkward doesn't really cover it. But is the possibility there? (I admit I'm clutching at straws but I can't help but think Mrs merkel would be lenient if DC cosied up to her and said we're changing our minds, will you help me style this one out - or words to that effect)

Miners. Def not minors!

and Iraq War - I am never posting from my phone again!

I think he seriously lacks the intelligence he needs; and he knows it.

He's actually highly, highly intelligent. Waaaay more intelligent that Cameron, and probably one of the most intelligent politicians there is. He's also a very detail orientated person.

He probably is so intelligent he didn't think the voters in England and Wales would be so stupid.

I actually think he should be PM, and left to fix this mess he created. He certainly has skin in the game, moreso than Cameron and Osborne, so that might be extra motivation.

People who think there will be another referendum are completely deluded.

There also won't be a 2nd referendum. The other EU members won't take the UK back. No way. The door has been slammed shut.

Absolutely. It is NOT up to us now.

But didn't she take the milk off the minors FanDabby?

So not wrong really!

Boris is a completely self centred baffoon out to meet his own ambitions. He is definetly out of his league.

Of course, I always did think Boris' (& many other Tories) plan was to reunite the Tories again by have a supposedly Euroskeptic leader after a failed Leave referendum.

Boris' period as Mayor of London, (the most successful multi-cultural City in the world with a booming economy because of immigration and the UK being in the EU) will have highlighted to him the importance of the EU.

Even the NHS promise of £350 million has back-fired. The Leave Tories were going to use this as the excuse to dismantle the NHS after a successful Remain referendum by saying 'if only we were not still giving money to the EU..."

He is a highly intelligent man, now with egg on his face. He may become PM but I very much doubt he will win a General Election. The UKIP vote will not automatically now go to the Tories.

jackofkent.com/2016/06/why-the-article-50-notification-is-important/

Lest we forget he's also staring down the barrel of an iminent 2nd Scottish ref.

Cameron will be gone most likely by the time that happens (he'll make bloody sure of it).

So the new PM will be battling to form new trade deals on the one hand without the advantage of a sweet EU carrot to dangle, and on the other side will be trying to persuade Scotland to stay! (Using what arguments exactly I don't know... ,

Shittiest Job EVER!

I agree Boris does not have the look of a man on the winning team.

We haven't actually left yet so there is no "taking back" to be done at this stage.

Agree he didn't want to win - he joined when the race was clearly going to be 'remain' - he could be a buffoon and then appeal to the pro-eu wing of the party by saying he respected the country's decision, win the leadership contest and that be that.

I always thought that Gove was put in charge of the 'leave' campaign as they needed someone senior, not someone who was widely respected outside the party, and would look to the anti-EU wing that they had 'tried' to be fair. Gove was set up to fail, and that suited everyone.

Basically, everyone involved focussed on UKIP and the Tories, and completely failed to notice that there's a lot of traditional Labour supporters who hate the EU. (To be fair to the Tories, Labour have been busy ignoring it too and treating UKIP as a "Tory problem" and nothing to do with them). These people never feature on the Tory radar, so they haven't bothered finding out what they think, until it's a bit too late.

Good article here: www.independent.co.uk/voices/brexit-petition-second-eu-referendum-how-to-get-new-vote-on-uk-membership-a7102646.html

Yanbu. The mood of the winning camp seems to be summed up by the phrase "be careful what you wish for".

Like pp, I'm genuinely astonished to find myself in agreement with David Cameron (there's a sentence I never thought I'd come out with). I expect the leave camp thought they could get him to stay on and thrash out the deal then they would stroll in and take over. He has, quite reasonably, decided to let them deal with the almighty shitstorm that will ensue. I almost admire him (I said almost).

Yanbu I think he thought we would remain but wanted to use the campaign as a platform to go for Tory leadership at the next elections. Not to be put into power now and do the negotiations. That could be political death for him and he won't survive past this term.

Dear god, I hope it isn't him. Can you imagine Boris negotiating with the EU!

I think there are 2 ways to look at it.

Cameron created the situation by calling the referendum in the first place, so should have stayed on to clear up the ensuing shitstorm which he must have known was a possible outcome...
or
Boris caused the shitstorm by backing Brexit & should be cleaning it up.

Think I am leaning towards the latter - although I think both have behaved appallingly.

But I will never forgive Boris for sacrificing my kids' future on the altar of his political ambition.

It's not a case of the rest of EU taking us back or not, we've not actually left or asked to leave yet! We've had a referendum that said the British public want to leave, we don't actually have to leave. If another referendum was called and the result was 'remain' - assuming we haven't triggered A50, then nothing would change.

There would be grumbling within the EU, but "Britain comes to it's senses and doesn't want to go" would be best for them, rather than having to deal with us going.

Karlos Sadly I don't think so. You are forgetting that right now the fear is that Britain has begun a domino effect with other countries wanting their own referendums.

Brexit could literally lead to the downfall of the EU. And given its a historically violent continent with a reinvigorated far right tradition, that is a frightening thought.

So nobody is thinking kindly of the UK today. In fact, it is being framed as "the contagion". It had to be exised as soon as possible like a malignant cancer that is infecting the surrounding tissue.

No way back.

Neither of them are as clever as they thought they were.

^ I'm talking about Cameron and Johnson.

We had the same conversation ourselves- definitely agree op