Dave has a moral duty to speak up for Mrs May on Brexit
COMPARED with some of his predecessors, David Cameron has behaved with a degree of dignity since stepping down as prime minister.
He has not carped like Harold Macmillan did about Margaret Thatcher’s privatisation policy, comparing it to ‘selling off the family silver’. Nor has he acted spitefully in the manner Edward Heath treated Mrs Thatcher. or like Thatcher, in turn, who was accused of behaving as a ‘ back- seat driver’ to her successor John Major’s government.
Yes, Mr Cameron has cashed in on his premiership, taking a role in a $1billion investment fund in China and is being paid very well to make speeches to businessmen in venues across the globe.
There have been occasional public appearances in this country (such as recently, when he surprised fellow racegoers at a meeting in Wiltshire when he was spotted wearing a bizarre, over-sized flat cap).
But in a refreshing contrast to his embittered friend and one-time Project Fear cheerleader George osborne, he has kept private his views on Theresa May’s Brexit negotiations.
However, I believe that in the light of this week’s events, Mr Cameron has a public duty to speak out about Brexit.
As the man who gave the British people the chance to vote in a referendum on the issue of whether this country should leave the EU, and vowed that the Government would be bound by the result, it is vital that he addresses those who are now trying to keep Britain in the EU.
THIS is particularly necessary as we now know that attempts by Remainers to sabotage Brexit and get a second referendum are being funded by American billionaire George Soros, who is backed by some of David Cameron’s friends and allies, including Mr osborne and his former Coalition deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg. For the fact is that their campaign to stop Brexit is making Mrs May’s Government’s negotiations with Brussels much more difficult.
The Prime Minister’s hand is being undermined at every turn, her authority damaged and her chances of survival lessened.
In such circumstances, I believe Mr Cameron should now state publicly that the commitments he made to the British people during the referendum campaign must be honoured.
Crucially, during his time as prime minister, he repeatedly ruled out a second referendum.
In a speech at the Chatham House Royal Institute of International Affairs in November 2015, he stated: ‘When the British people speak, their voice will be respected — not ignored.
‘If we vote to leave, then we will leave. There will not be another renegotiation and another referendum.’ There was no ambiguity. At a time when Mr Soros says he’s willing to give more money to the campaign that threatens to bring down Theresa May, and when people such as Mr Clegg and Labour peer Andrew Adonis are clamouring for a second referendum, Mr Cameron should say they have no right to defy the public’s wishes.
Indeed, it would also be helpful if he told the British people what he shared in a private conversation with a foreign tycoon at a meeting of the world’s financial elite in Davos — namely that Brexit will be considerably less economically damaging to the UK than he warned during the referendum campaign.
Sadly, I won’t hold my breath for David Cameron to do the honourable thing. He has already broken a number of the promises he made during the referendum campaign.
First, he said he’d stay on as prime minister regardless of the result. He didn’t. He quit No 10 in a fit of pique within hours.
Also, he told voters that if they decided to leave the EU, the Government would trigger Article 50 (the mechanism for Britain to pull out) ‘ straight away’. As we now know, it took the Conservative Government nine months until this happened. Above all, David Cameron dumped on his successor, Mrs May, what is beyond doubt the most difficult inheritance any peacetime prime minister has been asked to confront.
For all these reasons, David Cameron must now come to Theresa May’s aid.
If he does not, he’ll give the impression that he covertly supports the anti- democratic campaign to destabilise the Prime Minister and prevent her carrying out the will of the British people.