Farewell David Cameron

Yesterday David Cameron announced that he was stepping down as a Conservative MP, triggering a by-election in Witney, near to where the MiL lives.
I suppose it was inevitable that he would take that step, having resigned as PM (Prime Minister) back in June. After you have been responsible for running the country, trying to sort out the inconsequential woes of a few backbenchers wouldn't be quite as thrilling.

But it is not as though Witney is suddenly an unsafe seat. Apparently the vote for the Conservatives in the last election was over 60%. The party there could nominate a plate of jelly and it would probably be voted in with a majority. So there will be no threat to the slender Conservative majority (a working majority of 16) from Cameron's resignation. It's probably best though if they don't nominate any kind of pig.

What upsets me is that Cameron took us into a referendum on membership of the EU, which he lost, and he is able to walk away unscathed from the incident. His PM's pension is safe, his MP's pension is safe, his expenses have been paid and he walks away without consequence. The rest of us have to live with his decision and his inability to win an argument.

I have mentioned Brexit before, and there is no reward in retreading old arguments. What I will say is that Cameron has a degree of security which the rest of us don't enjoy, despite the fact that he was the one who took the gamble, and we were passive onlookers to his efforts. And that doesn't sit well with me. It is all of a piece with the attitude he took in the days and months leading up to his resignation, where he simply wouldn't accept alternative arguments. How can you have a constructive discussion with someone who won't accept an alternative view?

I suppose that the only comfort that we can take now, at this point, is the news that Cameron was the PM who took us out of the EU, despite this being contrary to his own views. I expect and hope that the economic and social uncertainty which will probably be forthcoming over the next few years will be blamed on him and his insulated coterie. So that will be his legacy, despite any good he may have done, and his efforts to blunt the teeth of the right-wingers in the Tory party.

Having said that, I haven't suffered until now because of the Brexit vote, and I hope that those who can have planned for what happens when Article 50 is actually invoked, so that any impact at that point is mitigated. But even if there are people out there who claim that Brexit will have a small impact (if any at all), I think the general uncertainty and lack of investment due to the uncertainty can be firmly laid at Cameron's door.

So on that basis, I guess my distilled message to Cameron would be: farewell, it's probably best that you go now, before you can cause any more damage. After all, a change is as good as a rest (except when it's Theresa May).

TTFN.