David Cameron never believed he would have to hold an EU referendum because he expected to fall short of an overall majority in the 2015 election, according to Donald Tusk.TheGrimReaper wrote: ↑Wed Aug 21, 2019 10:45 pmOh dear, a new member who is not up to speed on the subject. Read your first sentence and then think on what you wrotekungfufighter wrote: ↑Wed Aug 21, 2019 6:02 pmHow was it Parliament that created this mess?
It wasn't Parliament that decided to hold a referendum on a totally unworkable idea.
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Tusk said the then British prime minister had told him he was relaxed about promising the referendum – which he had done to appease Eurosceptics in his party – because he thought he would again be in coalition with the Liberal Democrats, who would block any such move.
In an interview as part of a BBC documentary, Tusk said: “I asked David Cameron, ‘Why did you decide on this referendum, this – it’s so dangerous, so stupid even you know,’ and, he told me – and I was really amazed and even shocked – that the only reason was his own party.”
Tusk continued: “[He told me] he felt really safe, because he thought at the same time that there’s no risk of a referendum, because his coalition partner, the Liberals, would block this idea of a referendum. But then, surprisingly, he won and there was no coalition partner. So paradoxically David Cameron became the real victim of his own victory