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Comment by ivan_gammel | Hacker News Reader

> dismissed any ideas some countries might have had about leaving EU for decades

Let’s not steal the credit from Boris Johnson and Theresa May for that.

I'm not sure Theresa May gets any real credit for Brexit as a concept. She didn't campaign for it; she was just daft enough to think anyone could negotiate something that satisfied the multitude of unworkable or contrasting promises.

She decided that her country should actually proceed with Brexit and has chosen the process for it.

The electorate decided that with the result of the referendum. Boris Johnson won the election with a landslide on the promise that he'd leave.

I'm a bit annoyed that people say 52% is "the electorate said...", and the referendum was non-binding, the government could've said "OK, but here are the effects of Brexit and why we're not going to proceed...".

Which is what the general election was for. Boris got into power on the back of promising to deliver...

It's easy to forget, but the last 2 elections were based on getting Brexit done. The first one did not go terribly well for Theresa May, the second went well for Boris. The difference was the leader of the party - the policies were not radically different to a layman. It's hard to see it as more than a popularity contest.

> Boris got into power on the back of

An electoral system where the majority of votes cast were not in his favour

Wouldn’t have changed anything, except perhaps May would have been removed sooner and Johnson would have been made leader to fight and win the 2017 GE. There’s no way the Tories could have ignored the referendum results.

She also laid out the notorious "red lines" that made any sensible deal impossible.

> she was just daft enough to think anyone could negotiate something that satisfied the multitude of unworkable or contrasting promises

Another take: She didn't realize that Boris Johnson wanted power, and therefore would do everything possible to undermine her. There was no way to make a deal with Johnson.

> Let’s not steal the credit from Boris Johnson and Theresa May for that.

They didn't have an original idea in their lives. The idea is Dugin's, the funding comes from the Russian tax payer, the public face was Nigel Farage, the campaign strategy and slogans come from Dom Cummings.

Most succinct and overall best summing-up I've seen, thank you!

One tiny quibble:

> the funding comes from the Russian tax payer

And perhaps mainly from the ordinary European who heats with gas.

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