Who do YOU blame for this?

[Crunchymum]

Do you lay the blame completely with DC for this? Afterall he agreed to the referendum in the first place in order to be re-elected.

Do you blame the people behind the lies of the Brexit campaign? BoJo and Gove et al

Do you blame Corbyn and his lukewarm campaign?

Do you blame the non voters or those who voted and now wish they could change their vote?

Do you blame those who voted leave and still refuse to acknowledge they have been mislead?

Do you blame yourself for not reaching out to more people and making sure they knew how important this vote was and how there was no going back?

Are all of the above to blame to a degree?

I blame the people who voted leave.

I do think that by voting out of Europe that we have taken a bold move to curb the increasing far right support in Britain.

So by pandering to far right views you hope to curb them?

I think that as it is VERY unlikely that any agreements will actually result in any more stringent controls on European migration, it is more likely that such views will become even more dangerous and inflamed when people realise that immigration hasn't changed and whatsmore, they are even worse off than before. A more effective, ethical (and ultimately cheaper way) would have been to invest in the deprived areas.

For many people the EU is at fault when they are poor and have nothing they do not think being part of a country that is a net contributor to eu is a good thing whether they believed false figure of 350million or even the real figure of 18+ million they would still think that 18 million could be better spent here. Within eu l think Juncker
's nasty bully boy tactics increased the leave vote

I would rather have remained but understand completely why lots voted leave

The labour party has a complete culture divide between left leaning metropolitan London labour and working class former mining village type labour unfortunately Blair, Milliband, Corbyn Khan, chuka etc belong to the former as does large parts of mumsnet and they just don't get the second u til they admit that immigration is a problem and really talk about it they are doomed as a party.l know huge numbers of labour party members support Corbyn but he is not popular among labour voters his eu campaign was hopeless

If the eu was so great remain would have walked it the eu is not great many other eu countries have deep Euroscepticism including France

I was probably about 55-60% in favour of eu it can't get it's accounts signed off my auditors it is undemocratic and sovereignty is an issue

Personally l think once dust has settled and serious negotiation starts a decent trade deal will result now folks are angry but they will not cut off their noses to spite their faces

I think you are right teacup but I don't see how any decent trade deal could also include blocking immigration and so I don't see how it can in any way help pacify the right-wingers who are clamouring for no immigration - it can only annoy them even more.

A more effective, ethical (and ultimately cheaper way) would have been to invest in the deprived areas.

Which is precisely what EU funds were doing.
But apparently that wasn't enough, or wasn't the right solution after all, so fuck it, maybe Brexit is the answer here. Taking back the illusion of control.

www.perc.org.uk/project_posts/thoughts-on-the-sociology-of-brexit/

Exactly RiceCrispieTreats!

Doesn't matter now who you blame, it's not going to be pretty.

However it sounds like the EU didn't do the right PR as so many have no idea what the EU has actually done for their communities.

Cameron for being so fucking stupid as to propose a referendum.

Boris for betraying his own beliefs, his party and his country.

And the woefully un-informed leave voters.

Well given that Cameron proposed re defending back in 2013, I am not sure how he can be blamed given that both the general election AND indyref took place well after that. If no-one wanted the referendum they had the opportunity to take Scotland out and to not allow the Tories in.

I* think that as it is VERY unlikely that any agreements will actually result in any more stringent controls on European migration, it is more likely that such views will become even more dangerous and inflamed when people realise that immigration hasn't changed and whatsmore, they are even worse off than before.*
I think on the contrary that Johnson for instance must be very aware that people will be angry if European migration is not seen to be curbed, so I'm waiting to see how it's going to be announced (=the way we EU citizens currently living in the UK are going to be hung out to dry dealt with).

(sorry, bold fail!)

I think that as it is VERY unlikely that any agreements will actually result in any more stringent controls on European migration, it is more likely that such views will become even more dangerous and inflamed when people realise that immigration hasn't changed and whatsmore, they are even worse off than before.

I think on the contrary that Johnson for instance must be very aware that people will be angry if European migration is not seen to be curbed, so I'm waiting to see how it's going to be announced (=the way we EU citizens currently living in the UK are going to be hung out to dry dealt with).

Well for being in this current position, I blame the 52% of voters who voted to leave. It was a free vote. They had the same access to information as anyone. They chose to vote leave for their various reasons. Therefore it is because of them we are in the current position we are in.

Just like if remain had won, it would be because the remain voters had chosen to vote a certain way.

I'm no DC or Tory fan but I don't think DC had much choice in holding a referendum and believe it would have happen regardless of who was in charge. If it hadn't we'd be having people going mad about them not having a choice. Likewise I don't blaming for resigning either - how can someone opposed to a process be the one to push it forward? That would be madness.

The leave campaigners - well yes. Had they not led the campaign and said what they said we may not be here now.

But ultimately we are here now entirely down to how people voted. As leave won, it is because of leave voters.

However it sounds like the EU didn't do the right PR as so many have no idea what the EU has actually done for their communities.

This reminded me of this famous scene:

Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party have a huge responsibility for this. Especially in the north.

I don't blame most voters. There was so much information, it was jumbled and packed with lies. People are busy. It needed to be clear and hammer the main points home.

I blame:

1. a The hard right of the conservatives. I don't actually blame Cameron at all, he was bullied (or rather held to ransom) by members of his own party into holding this referendum

2. The hard left of Labour, eg Corbyn for not engaging sufficiently with voters in their strongholds particularly in the North of England.

And above all I blame Boris Johnson. He is a two faced liar who just wanted to manoeuvre himself into power.

David Cameron for gambling on a referendum that he didn't think he would win.

Boris Johnson for using the whole campaign to further his own career rather than acting in the best interests of the country.

The entire leave campaign for lying and propaganda, and then not even bothering to come up with a plan for if they win, leaving the markets to plunder in uncertainty and the pound to crash.

The remain campaign for being so poor and not arguing the benefits of EU membership enough.

Years worth of vile media coverage in the Daily Mail and other right-wing press, accompanied by the hate spouted by Farage, stirring up tensions about immigration.

All our political parties for ignoring the deprived areas of the country and for allowing the poorest in society to feel desperate, unempowered and angry enough in politics that they feel that voting leave was their only option.

People that couldn't be bothered to vote and are now cross we are out of the EU.

People that only voted out as a 'protest vote' without bothering to consider the consequences.

In the OP's list the media weren't mentioned. I would blame them more than anyone. At no point did they press the leave campaign on its claims or arguments, many of which were completely specious. Even on the £350m figure and following a statement by UK statistics, the media still allowed it to be used. The BBC and ITV seemed to think that their role was simply to allow a platform for the two sides rather than interrogating them and challenging what they were saying. I don't recall any TV or radio presenter saying to leave campaigners that net immigration to the UK from outside the EU is twice the rate as from the EU even though the UK has complete control over the level of immigration from outside the EU. I don't recall any TV or radio presenter asking leave campaigners why British people in rent-subsidised council housing can't compete with EU migrants paying full market rents in the private sector.

I also blame the remain campaign. Its supposed head Stuart Rose was a disaster. The remain campaign identified too much with the political parties and the establishment instead of starting with a genuine popular basis. In that regard I blame David Cameron for bringing forward the referendum date by a year. That worked against the remain side because it had no time to organise. The leavers, in UKIP and the looney wing of the Conservative Party, have years of organisation behind them - they have mailing lists, etc.

I also blame the House of Commons for having voting rules that gave a vote to a Nigerian who has been in the U.K. for six months to vote and denied a vote to a German who has lived here for six years. That was simply wrong and it should have been raised constantly. It should have been all British citizens or non-British citizen residents rather than what we had. Even as the rules stood the Electoral Commission kept putting out statements about EU citizens not being entitled to vote and being subject to criminal charges if they did, even those Irish, Maltese and Cypriots were entitled to vote. Only after I had the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs personally intervene did the Electoral Commission to change the wording that it was using from "EU citizens" to "certain EU citizens".

Finally, I blame the voters who voted leave. I think they will soon realise how stupid a decision they have made. Any EU migrants that are in the U.K. will be able to stay and, once in the U.K. five years, will be able to get citizenship. They and their children will have not only U.K. citizenship but the citizenship of a country that remains in the EU and will be able to move anywhere in the EU or the UK. UK citizens (except those in Northern Ireland all of whom can get Irish passports) will not have that right. The media focused on the retired British on the costas but they did not look once at the 1.5m working age British (250,000 in the Republic of Ireland alone) that are working in other EU countries or at the way the opportunities for work and education of British people would be limited if there were not free movement of workers and students between the U.K. and the rest of the EU.

I blame the liars. That is Boris Johnson who couldn't care less about the things he maintained he was standing for. He really believes he is some Churchillian character instead of the self seeking, bumbling idiot he really is. Now he is being mooted as a replacement for Cameron. This while he is backtracking at the rate of knots on the subject of free movement. So what did these gullible voters vote for? All this trouble sending us to hell in a handcart based on lies and the stupidity of people who took Leave's repeated mantras about getting our country back and sovereignty without further investigation. This will never be forgotten or forgiven.

There are a whole raft of amazing up & coming MPs from the 2010 intake who have more than hit the ground running in both main parties, and they are the ones who can bring about the long overdue change to our politics.

I agree with that Mango and agree that it's time for a shake-up of the old guard. But we didn't need to leave the EU for that.

I also agree with Rice that cutting the UK out of the picture will enable the EU to pursue its social agenda more freely, but, conversely, that it will be less stable as it attempts to pursue that agenda.

It would have been so much better therefore – for all, but especially for us – if we could have challenged our neoliberal ruling class domestically and ceased to be the difficult child the EU has perpetually had to placate, without resorting to this utterly nuclear option. Yes, the political elite is imploding spectacularly, but so is the entire country, and so may Europe, which – in or out – is going to have a direct effect on our political future. I think this is what I have least patience with: the Brexiteers’ complete fixation with their own desires rather than the bigger political picture – and then you complain about being treated like a child!

I think the unchecked right-wing media and the electorate themselves have to take some of the blame for getting to the point where sticking two fingers up to the political elite seemed like such a priority that everything else could go hang. We voted for this government (and similar predecessors) even though it was very clearly a masochistic thing to do. I accept that the FPTP system partly caused that, and acknowledge the accompanying sense of electoral futility, but again, whose fault is that? We had a referendum on electoral reform and it attracted virtually no enthusiasm from the very people who are now trying to blame Brexit and its implications on entrenched political disengagement.

I really despair at the thought of where all this is going to end.

MrsLupo, I have wondered if a vote to change from FPTP to PR would attract a good turnout now.

I think voters were more engaged because they knew that their vote actually counted and meant something - no vote is pointless.

Mango I suspect the idea of another referendum on something many people didn't entirely grasp last time is not going to be a winning proposal right now

I'm not sure it's helpful to try to apportion blame, but I don't think we should ever have had this referendum.
Paxman sums it up well:
"Going for a referendum on the country’s geopolitical state as if it was a council regulation on dog-fouling was a very big mistake."

Yeah, you're probably right Bathroom!

Boris Johnson and Michael Hove - for actively misleading people

I actually don't blame Cameron. This vote had to happen at some point. The dissent had been rumbling for years and it had to be resolved one way or the other