David Cameron - snake in the grass

Cameron made many mistakes.

He should never have prioritised the divisions in his party over the best interests of the country.

If he decided to have a referendum there should have been a percentage threshold to protect the status quo - as there was in the first Scottish devolution referendum and is always normally the case in countries which use referenda.

If you want to change the constitution of your local golf club you would normally need a two thirds vote on a seventy five percent turnout. This brexit nonsense was only supported by 17 million out of a population of 67 million,

He is also guilty of gross complacency about the result. He should have realised that the vested interests in the Tory press, controlled by billionaire tax exiles who like to avoid tax, would campaign for leave.

Cameron is guilty of propelling our country into three and a half years of turmoil, profligate waste of taxpayers money promoting this brexit lie, and deeply entrenched division in our society.

I do not exonerated this self serving politician. Cameron must take the burden of the blame for the miserable divided Britain we have become.

Cameron didn’t write the book to make money ( he doesn’t need it) he wrote it to justify his own actions, in my eyes.
His mistake was not in allowing a referendum, but getting so involved in the Remain ‘camp’ beforehand that when the result came out in favour of leaving, he resigned, not only as PM but also as the MP for his Witney constituency.After all his promises of staying to see things through!
If he had done, at least he could have eventually resigned with some dignity.

I wonder how many books Johnson will sell when it's his turn to write his memoirs.

I won't be buying Cameron's book.

I hold him primarily responsible for this appalling chaotic and dangerous state our country is now in.

Snake in the grass?. It’s ironic that if Cameron had used as many dirty tricks and lies as the Brexit lot he would probably have won.
As for the current revelations, he will sell a lot of books, which in his eyes justifies the slurs on his former friends, free publicity courtesy of BBC

Watch the way they have treated their friend and then expect the same or worse to be done to the poor voters,

How can anyone trust these charlatans?

“Friends” in Tory speak seems to have a totally different meaning to what most of us understand it to mean

Then Gove stabbed Johnson in the back - didn't he?

Johnson and Gove stabbed their 'friend' Cameron in the back first... Didn't they?

Much as I felt sorry for when his son died, why do people always have to recollect/reflect on such times when there's trouble ?? Is it about using emotions as a counterbalance for what he's done, and for anyone else who's done wrong for that matter ? It gets on my wick.

It was a horrible thing to do to ex colleagues especially as he was friends with Boris and Gove. There is more nastiness to come too.

Clearly he did not get enough to satisfy his party.

I think the fact that the EU ignored Cameron, the PM of the UK, and made NO concessions (we weren't asking for much)

Cameron came back and all the newspapers were in agreement that Brussels gave nothing or very little, to satisfy UK concerns.

Make up your mind, Day6. Did the EU make NO concessions or did they make 'some'?

All the Newspapers may have been in agreement (in fact, they weren't) but Hansard, a true record of Parliamentary proceedings, says different:

publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201516/cmhansrd/cm160222/debtext/160222-0001.htm#16022210000001

(I'm quite tired of posting this link; I've done it before but I don't think that anyone who is convinced that Cameron didn't get any concessions from the EU ever bothers to read it.)

David Cameron is nothing like a snake in the grass. Snakes, whether they're in or out of grass, actually have a purpose. Cameron does not.

And....for my money....the fact that the EU struggles to adapt to current needs and concerns is evidence of the unwieldy nature of such big conglomerations. Good intentions get swamped.

I do not think his "revelation" that Boris did not care about leave or remain, but just wanted to jump on whichever bandwagon he thought might further his ambitions came as a surprise to anyone - he spent a long time debating which way to jump, and that was all in the public domain. I am sickened by MPs whom I once thought to be halfway decent (in spite of being Tories) who voted for this creep. Could they not see he was/is just put for No.One.

And I think there are few people who were under any illusions about the ghastly Gove. It sickens me that his back-of-the-envelope plans for education will have lasting impact on my GC.

The fact that DC came back from Brussels empty-handed, as did many before and after him is a big black mark for the EU in my book. If they had been willing to be more accommodating we would not be in this current mess.

The EU DID make concessions to Cameron

Please name them?

Cameron came back and all the newspapers were in agreement that Brussels gave nothing or very little, to satisfy UK concerns. It wasn't that long ago. People can remember the EU being accused of intransigence and lack of care for member state concern.

Typical Tory

Is it so shocking that Cameron (who I also despise) should accuse the likes of Johnson and Gove of being back stabbers?

Johnson never had any principles and decided to back Leave on a whim because he thought it would lose but it would put him in a position to succeed Cameron, and as for Gove - did he not back-stab both Cameron and then Johnson?

The EU DID make concessions to Cameron.

Whatever your political stance, stabbing his former colleagues in the back and stirring up dissent is just what the country does not need.

I totally agree with this Rosina and find Cameron's latest stance out of order.

He wasn't however, the only politician to want a referendum after the UK dismissal by the EU when he asked for concessions in Feb 2015. An election followed and people wanted the promised referendum.

That he is stirring things now against former colleagues makes him a vile back-stabber of the highest order.

Gordon Brown suffered the death of his baby daughter, and now has the added emotional stress of his dangerously ill younger son, not to mention being blind in one eye. I'm no fan of Gordon Brown, but to his credit he has never used these private tragedies to gain public sympathy! Particularly not to help sell a personal book to make yet more money! How much more does this multi millionaire (DC) need ?!!

He has conveniently forgotten it seems that he failed miserably in negotiating a better deal with the EU, and this led to his promised referendum

I think the fact that the EU ignored Cameron, the PM of the UK, and made NO concessions (we weren't asking for much) and dismissed him, made people more and more concerned that getting out of the EU was in our best interests.

Our EU membership had been a topic of political conversation for a long time.

Please remember, not just the Conservative Party, but the Lib Dems and Labour were also listening to the mood of the UK and involved in matters of getting out of the EU and holding a referendum.

Our EU membership had been on the agenda and a big bone of contention for a long, long time before the 2015 elections.

Labour for a Referendum was a political campaign by members of the Labour Party that sought a referendum in the United Kingdom on the European Union. The movement was set up following a pledge by the Conservative Party to hold an in–out vote if re-elected in 2015 United Kingdom general election

Following the Conservative victory in the 2015 election, the Labour Party committed to supporting passage of a Referendum Bill through Parliament

And as for Clegg, then leader of the Lib Dems, here's an inconvenient truth: He previously supported an in/out EU referendum.

In their 2010 election manifesto, the Lib Dems called for a national vote on Britain's EU membership

Here's the pledge in full:

The European Union has evolved significantly since the last public vote on membership over thirty years ago. Liberal Democrats therefore remain committed to an in / out referendum the next time a British government signs up for fundamental change in the relationship between the UK and the EU.

Brexit was on the cards long before 2015 and it was a cross party issue.

Totally agree with you Rosina! I just can't believe how DC is attempting to shift the blame for the chaos this poor country find itself in onto anyone and everyone except himself! He not only has an extremely short memory about 'sincere' promises made and put into writing, he is, sadly, a liar and a cheat, reminding one of a certain T. Blair!! Mind you Mrs May's No deal is better than a bad deal, now has a rather hollow ring to it ! What is it with these people that lying seems to have become a way of life?! As for D C's' book! I wouldn't use it as loo paper!

I am not a Conservative and had no time for David Cameron when he was in office, but he is not alone in stabbing his former colleagues in the back.

As regards his writing about emotional matters, people grieve in different ways, and if writing his feelings down has helped him deal with his grief, then I don't think he should be criticised for that.

There is quite enough to criticise in his policies when in power, his ideology regarding unnecesary austerity for a start, his introduction of the bedroom tax, the punative benefit cap, the two child benefit policy etc. etc.