Betrayed

Nick Cohen is absolutely correct to say that whatever happens with Brexit there will be cries of 'betrayal'. There is no-one to hold to account for what was promised: the PM who offered the referendum resigned upon hearing the result - the parallel with Pontius Pilate deferring to the mob is inescapable; Vote Leave dissolved; Farage resigned; Johnson returned to the back benches, leaving a Remainer to take the helm of state who is still ineffectually attempting to honour the result.

One of the most prominent Leave campaigners, Gisela Stuart, a Labour MP and a director of Vote Leave, has explained why the question posed on the ballot paper was 'vacuous'. She felt that she had to vote Leave as the better option of the two offered, but that the referendum itself was "an abuse of the democratic process".

For example, members of the Leave campaign made impossible promises - even lied right out - in order to win, and then backtracked as soon as the vote was done. Consider the promised £350 million for the NHS. Someone painted it on the side of the campaign bus, but who? Vote Leave even issued posters emblazoned “Let’s give our NHS the £350m the EU takes every week.” However the leading Brexiteers don't seem to know who said it. Iain Duncan Smith says he never made the claim. Farage said "I would never have made that claim". Stuart herself cannot fudge this as she said in a BBC interview "if I had that control I would spend it on the NHS" - it will be interesting to see if she sticks to this line as a voting MP.

The Leave website was wiped the day following the referendum result - removing this and other promises such as those on immigration (which are also being broken). To see the new line being taken see the Change Britain website. Same people, different promises.

So the likely result is that no-one will get what they thought they voted for. Remainers certainly won't, but nor will Leavers.

However when populists attempt to rally people with the cry 'betrayal', and attempt to blame their chosen bogey men, remember the promises betrayed were the lies of people who refused to take responsibility for honouring them.