If referendums are the answer, we’re asking the wrong question | Martin Kettle

We have tested this kind of politics to destruction. The results have been less clarity and more division
• EU referendum polling day – live updates
• With no exit poll, when is the result announced?

Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive? I don’t think many will feel the same way that William Wordsworth did about the French revolution when they look back on June 2016 and our referendum on Europe. For this was no springtime of peoples, no logical debate in Plato’s republic, and no political Glastonbury either. And it has not produced the national catharsis that some hoped for. No one is snatching a few hours’ sleep this evening thinking, wow, that was just what we all needed, give us more of it.

This referendum was about Britain and Europe. But it was also a disturbing revelation of the way we now do politics. As such it cannot help but be a reflection on David Cameron. This was his show, prepared over years, not weeks. He produced, designed, directed and starred in it. It reflected his way of governing, his model of leadership, his priorities, his politics and his attitude to Europe. And it has been a shabby muddle for which he must take responsibility.

Related: The UK is now two nations, staring across a political chasm | John Harris

The referendum is now the weapon of choice for populist parties of left and right

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