Britain backs Brexit and essay crisis Cameron is finally undone

As I write this, dawn is breaking over London and Chuka Umunna is wittering on about the result of the referendum on the BBC, which is projected as 52% to 48%. “This is a big thing… for our country,” Chuka has just said, stating the bleedin’ obvious and proving once again how far the Labour party has fallen in terms of seriousness and intellectual clout. This is… a big thing. Indeed it is.

Let us leave Umunna to it, burbling on. This is a seismic moment in the affairs of Britain and Europe, and a seismic moment in the career of the Prime Minister David Cameron.

The Tory leader has thrived on an essay crisis approach throughout his highly successful career. That gift for last minute cramming was there during his A-levels, and during his time at Oxford, and then when he won the Tory leadership with another last gasp push. He has so far been a lucky politician, skilled at just about getting away with it in a crisis. It is, in a way, to his credit. He’s not mad; he’s well-adjusted and reasonable.

Now, Cameron’s luck has run out. All of the British TV networks have called it for Leave and it is being accepted as such by leading Remain campaigners. We’ll see once populous London’s final results come in.

For a long time I thought Cameron would end his career in one piece, but there was always the possibility that he would eventually push it too far eventually, and in placing the wrong bet end up losing. But with the might of the British Establishment and Davos Man and Davos Woman behind him, it was assumed by his allies and his favourite pollster that a classic safety first campaign would produce a clear victory in favour of remaining inside the European Union.

What next? Cameron is up in Number 10 and planning how to address the country. Those who play in the markets are already running around like headless chickens, as though we should take such machinations too seriously, considering how wrong they got the referendum.

More shortly. This is, to quote Chuka, “a big thing.”