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Ten days ago the nation was stunned by the unexpected Leave vote in the EU referendum . What has happened since has turned a shockwave into a tsunami.

The Government is in turmoil and so are both the Conservatives and Labour .

Only the Queen has kept her head, on Saturday urging calm on the nation.

But calm won’t come from a government which is rudderless, nor from a Tory party which is so badly wounded it needs Florence Nightingale rather than Theresa May as its new leader.

Nor from the Opposition, with Labour bitterly split between party members who support Jeremy Corbyn and the majority of MPs who have no faith in him.

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It is increasingly clear that whoever takes over when David Cameron finally goes will push on blindly with Brexit without a clue what to do.

The word “democracy” is being bandied about like a holy grail.

Tories say a democratic vote of the people is taking us out of Europe.

Jeremy Corbyn’s supporters insist he cannot be shifted because he was democratically

(Image: REUTERS/Neil Hall)

Nowhere is there a mention of parliamentary democracy, which has been the rock that has steadied this country for centuries and made it the envy of the world.

That can no longer be said. Countries we mocked, such as Greece and Italy, now look like models of stability compared with the Disunited Kingdom.

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If one good thing comes out of this chaotic mess it is that the British people are realising that politics does matter.

Thinking it didn’t was partly responsible for the Leave decision. We were told that would let us “take back control” but it’s obvious that no one is in control or knows how to get it.

Respect for leaders is at an all-time low.

These are desperate times.

They have been caused by a combination of factors – the financial crash of 2008 and bailing out the banks while inflicting austerity on the weakest in society; the fanatical obsession of the Tory party with Europe; Labour’s natural supporters turning against what they have seen happen to their party; and a desperately weak Prime Minister who took us into a referendum with unintended yet catastrophic consequences.

What a terrible state for this great country to be in.