On the evening of the 24th June 2016, I was eagerly awaiting the result of the EU Brexit vote on College Green, next to the House of Commons, awaiting an interview, which I had previously agreed to do with Christiane Amanpour of CNN. I was looking at a BBC screen when David Dimbleby announced “we’re out” I shall never forget the looks of incredulity from the likes of Paddy Ashdown, who previously said ‘he would eat his hat’, if that were the case and Alastair Campbell, who was clearly incandescent with rage at the idea and his perceived stupidity of the majority of people 52-48%, who voted to leave. The pound fell like a stone against the dollar from $1.50 to $1.25.
The BREXIT journey had been quite a rocky affair. In fairness to George Osborne, he did warn David Cameron to the dangers of holding a referendum, but it fell on deaf ears. Also had David Cameron returned from his visit to Chancellor Merkel, with some concrete concessions on trade and regulation, the decision taken by voters would probably have been reversed. The campaign also needed a full-on-effort and support of Jeremy Corbyn’s fractious Labour party to help deliver a ‘Remain’ majority vote.
