Chris Patten, as a former senior Tory politician, is saddened by the outcome of the referendum and sees it as "a tragedy in one act." But the trouble is that there were far too many actors on the stage, who vied for attention from the public, turning the campaigns into a huge circus. Like circus artists who seek to outdo each other by performing - sometimes - dangerous stunts, some campaigners delved into "a series of mendacious claims and promises." Dangerous stunts can go fatally wrong, so do disingenuous and deceptive political messages.

Patten is right about a referendum being controversial and can be abused by populists. Unfortunately the "Leave" campaign has misled Brexit supporters, whose disappointment will be palpable when they find out that they have been duped and enticed into the trap of their campaigners. It's not true that "there would be no economic price to pay for leaving, and no losses for all those sectors of its society that have benefited from Europe." For the moment they are still on cloud nine, indulging themselves in idealism, feeling proud that their voices have been heard, regaining the country that they used to know etc. But if better standard of life and job security fail to materialise, they will feel betrayed. However, some have-nots among "Leavers" resent the haves in London, and their "Out" votes aimed to take revenge on the political and financial elites. Some just want to see the breakup of the EU, taking back control from "un-elected" bureaucrats.

The fragmentation of Britain’s two main political parties is also to blame for the "disaster," allowing Eurosceptics to gain support among disaffected voters of all political stripes. This "anti-European sentiment has corroded the authority of Conservative leaders" forcing David Cameron to call for the referendum to appease his unruly Eurosceptics among Tories. Indeed he was weak and couldn't excercise party discipline. As party loyalty crumbles, the number of "committed Conservative supporters" also dwindles. What Patten deems "worse is what has happened in the Labour Party, whose traditional supporters provided the impetus behind the big “Leave” votes in many working-class areas." Many Labour "Bremainers" now blame Jeremy Corbyn for his lack of leadership and enthusiasm during their campagin. While Cameron has announced his resignation, Corbyn refuses to step down as party leader, despite wide spread discontent within the party.

Patten laments that there was in the past "hardly anyone has vigorously defended British membership in the EU. This created a vacuum, allowing delusion and deception to blot out the benefits of European cooperation." The focus on the bloc's flaws and imperfections has nurtured a troubled relationship, that many want to end. The "national interest" is to regain control, sovereignty and independence , leaving a sinking ship, instead of helping to repaire the leaks. Britain had come on board this ship in 1973, when its boat began to sink.

What agonises Patten is that "Donald Trump-style populism" - "America First" has reached Britain. The Eurosceptics adopt the same nativist slogan "Britain First" and harbour "hostility" and "populist bile," against the “establishment” and immigration. They refuse to listen to acclaimed economists' take on what would happen to a post-Brexit Britain, seeing Obama and other world leaders "as representatives of another world, with no relationship to the lives of ordinary British people." Eurosceptics capitalise on the "growing social inequity" between the working-class in the rural "old industrial England" and the financial elite in the metropolitan London, that benefits from free trade and globalisation, to thrive.

What lies ahead is also Patten's concern. Cameron will step down as prime minister and party leader. His "successor is a Brexit leader" - Patten doesn't spell out his name - "who has spent the last ten weeks spreading lies." But it is unclear whether Boris Johnson' dream would come true. There are calls for new elections, and there's no guarantee that Johnson would be the next prime minister, who would face multiple challenges, like a possible breakup of the UK, as Scotland and Northern Ireland have both voted to stay in the EU. Although Boris Johnson sees no rush to activate Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon, EU leaders want to negotiate Britain's exit as soon as possible, hopping to put an end to this circus, that has "revived nationalist politics. Patten says the referendum campaign has laid bare that Britain is no longer a beacon of the "sort of values that have in the past earned us so many friends and admirers around the world." Winston Churchill had once said: “The trouble with committing political suicide is that you live to regret it.” But Patten says the older "Leavers" who want to turn Britain's clock back to the good old days, wouldn't be around to regret what they have done.