David Cameron, political genius (not)

The reason we’re having a Referendum about EU membership has nothing much to do with EU membership. It’s because Cameron needed some way of getting the Europhobes in his party off his back. So he threw them a Referendum, much as one would throw a leg of lamb to a pack of baying wolves. Some thought it was a stroke of tactical genius at the time. In fact it was a colossal strategic error, because — whatever happens on June 23 — the Tory party has been rent asunder. And it’s hard to imagine a vote that will change that. Even a large Remain margin won’t appease the Euronutters. A narrow Remain vote will simply make them salivate for a return match. And of course a Leave vote will mean that both Cameron and the country are screwed. Some genius, eh?