Battle for No.10 as Cameron quits
The race to succeed Prime Minister is shaping up to be just as bitter and divisive as the events that triggered it
BRITISH Prime Minister David Cameron announced his resignation as soon as the results of the Brexit vote became clear yesterday morning.
His Cabinet colleagues said they had hoped he would stay on to steer Britain through its renegotiations with the EU.
Speaking on the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers said: ‘It’s truly shocking news, I think it’s deeply saddening.
‘As I was just saying only a few minutes ago, I would very much have preferred David Cameron to be steering this country through the next few years.
‘I entirely respect his decision but I think it is a sad day for the country that he has decided to stand down.’
Alex Salmond, who stood down as Scotland’s first minister after failing to secure independence in a referendum vote in 2014, said Mr Cameron’s resignation was ‘inevitable’.
He told the Today programme: ‘I, unlike some others, have been in this position of being the first minister of Scotland who organised the referendum, took my case to the people and lost. And you couldn’t possibly conby
‘There is only one course – to resign’
tinue in office under these circumstances. I never had a sliver of doubt that a Brexit would be followed very swiftly by the Prime Minister’s resignation.
‘And incidentally, the chancellor, and many other members of the government... similarly are faced with the position of having no credibility whatsoever.
‘If you take your case to the country on a constitutional issue and you lose, then there is only one course to take and that is to resign and allow those who sought a mandate and won, which they can see from the people of England, to go forward and take forward that mandate. That’s the only thing you can do.’
Tim Farron, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said the vote for Brexit would be Mr Cameron’s legacy.
He said Mr Cameron had ‘no choice’ but to resign and that Tory in-fighting over Europe had forced the country ‘over the edge’.
He said: ‘Twelve months ago, David Cameron had the best result of his career. Today, the worst.’
Boris Johnson is among the favourites to become the new British prime minister in October when it is put to a vote by the Conservative Party.
The former mayor of London was a prominent figure in the Leave campaign.
An angry crowd labelled him a ‘t***’ and ‘scum’ as he emerged from his London home following the referendum result yesterday.
The prominent Brexiteer was heckled on his way to the Vote Leave headquarters.
Mr Johnson said nothing to the dozens of journalists waiting outside his home when he finally left, flanked several police officers who escorted him to a waiting car.
One member of the public was heard to shout ‘t***’ before Mr Johnson’s car was trapped a short time later by a crowd of around 40 cyclists and onlookers blocking a junction.
His vehicle was halted for around five minutes. Police officers, who had been guarding his home, were nowhere to be seen.
The crowd taunted him with shouts of ‘where are you going, Boris?’ and ‘scum’, and hurled other profanities as his car was trapped in front of a green light, unable to move.
One man yelled: ‘The pound is down, what do you say about that? Is it going to be all right, Boris? Is the UK going to be all right, Boris? Are we going to be all right, mate? Come on, man up.’
Although the crowds had Mr Johnson’s car stuck in the road, they did not appear to approach it.
Officers eventually arrived at the junction around 200 metres from his house, where they had been controlling a media scrum and crowds of onlookers. There were cries of ‘shame’ as the car, with tinted windows, was eventually freed and moved off.
Mr Johnson eventually arrived at the Leave headquarters on London’s Embankment landmark at around 10am but swept in through a back entrance, avoiding dozens of press reporters, photographers and video journalists.
Meanwhile, Ukip leader Nigel Farage has called for the referendum day, June 23, to be declared a bank holiday, saying that it will ‘go down in our history as our independence day’.
He also called for a ‘Brexit prime minister’ to replace David Cameron, suggesting that Boris Johnson, Michael Gove or Liam Fox would be potential candidates.
Hailing an escape from the EU which had been achieved ‘without a single bullet being fired’, he said he hoped the vote for Brexit would bring down the entire ‘failed project’ that is the EU.
‘Eurosceptic parties never talked about leaving the EU, now they are,’ he said. ‘An opinion poll in the Netherlands said that a majority there now want to leave, so we may well be close perhaps to Nexit.
‘Similarly in Denmark a majority there are in favour of leaving so we could be quite close to Dexit.
‘And I’m told the same may apply to Sweden and perhaps Austria and perhaps even Italy too.
‘The EU is failing, the EU is dying, I hope that we’ve got the first brick out of the wall.’
Mr Farage said it was vital to move rapidly to the implementation of the EU vote.
‘We need the negotiations to start as soon as humanly possible, we need to start thinking globally about our future,’ he said.
He added: ‘Two things need to happen – one is a Brexit prime minister, and secondly we need a negotiating team who are going to go to Brussels to get us our new deal.
‘But also, simultaneously, let’s start negotiating not just with Brussels but with the rest of the world because the real opportunity we have got from Brexit is that we have left a failing political union in Europe, we can now start to re-engage with the world.’
‘We may well be close to Nexit’