A change in system of government will not resolve our challenges

Nothing elevates the tragedy of democracy coupled with poor leadership, like the Brexit crisis. It all started with a fractured Conservative Party and a Prime Minister who believed the best way to call out his opponents was to humble them into a referendum on the exit of the UK from Europe. In those heady days, it was impossible to imagine anyone, let alone the UK, leaving the EU. Germany had even given Greece extensive financial support (some Greeks believe it all ended up in German banks) to ensure Grexit did not happen after a crushing anti-EU referendum in 2015.

Yes, the UK had been a difficult partner in the European marriage, taking forever to say yes and obtaining all manner of concessions in view of its importance to Europe. Yes, there were always rumblings in the UK about Europe, but no one seriously believed the Brits would quit Europe. That was David Cameron’s first act of poor leadership, playing politics on critical national questions. The second error of leadership was to throw a complex issue to the democratic pathway before ironing out all possibilities at the leadership level.