I still don't understand why the referendum was a thing to begin with
So Nigel Farage was still a Conservative - he was threating to walk away with 15 backbenchers (ironic since we know now they've gone anyway) and before that also challenge Cameron with a vote of no confidence. He did what he does well, agitated.
David Cameron was so worried about the vote of no confidence and threats of abstention from voting that he agreed to a referendum.
Wasn't all Cameron's fault. Other factors were:
- Labour being led by Corbyn, who was also a lifelong Eurosceptic, didn't put up much of a fight
- Funding from malign actors (other countries) who funded the Brexit campaign in order to enrich themselves and destabilise Europe (Arron banks (business man, gave 1m to the campaign), Steve Bannon (right wing org Breitbart), Peter Theil (owner of Palantir))
Arron Banks - Wikipedia
- Facebook being compromised by Cambridge analytica to target those susceptible to influence
Cambridge Analytica - Wikipedia
Interestingly the push for Brexit was also talked about in the Epstein files;
In an email sent to tech billionaire Peter Thiel shortly after the 2016 referendum, Epstein wrote that Brexit was “just the beginning” of “a return to tribalism, counter to globalisation, amazing new alliances”
Epstein celebrated Brexit and ‘return to tribalism’, emails suggest | The Independent