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| Cameron defends decision to call Brexit referendum | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| David Cameron has defended his decision to call a referendum on the EU - despite the fact it cost him his job. | David Cameron has defended his decision to call a referendum on the EU - despite the fact it cost him his job. |
| The former prime minister said the issue had been "poisoning" British politics and the Conservative Party - and people were frustrated about it. | The former prime minister said the issue had been "poisoning" British politics and the Conservative Party - and people were frustrated about it. |
| He described the Brexit vote and Donald Trump's election in the US as a "movement of unhappiness". | He described the Brexit vote and Donald Trump's election in the US as a "movement of unhappiness". |
| And he urged leaders across the West to take steps to help those who felt left behind by globalisation. | And he urged leaders across the West to take steps to help those who felt left behind by globalisation. |
| Mr Cameron made the comments in a speech to students at Depauw University in Indiana entitled "The Historic Events of 2016 and Where We Go From Here" . | Mr Cameron made the comments in a speech to students at Depauw University in Indiana entitled "The Historic Events of 2016 and Where We Go From Here" . |
| Commenting on the Brexit vote, he said: "I believe and still believe that the fact that we hadn't had a referendum on this issue for 40 years, despite the fact that the European Union was changing ... was actually beginning to poison British politics - it was certainly poisoning politics in my own party. | |
| "And I think, more broadly people felt 'well, we have been promised referendums and they haven't been delivered' and people were beginning to feel very frustrated about this issue. | |
| "Britain has made its choice - I believe that choice will be carried through. | "Britain has made its choice - I believe that choice will be carried through. |
| "I think it is right it is carried through and yes, there will be difficulties along the way because it's a big change, but ultimately it can be made to work." | "I think it is right it is carried through and yes, there will be difficulties along the way because it's a big change, but ultimately it can be made to work." |
| 'Movement of unhappiness' | |
| Mr Cameron said "populism" had cost him his job and, in a question and answer session following his speech, he said: "So far these three events - the Brexit referendum, the election of President Trump, the referendum in Italy - I'm sure people are going to write about this movement of unhappiness and concern about the state of the world." | |
| He said a mixture of economics and cultural arguments had influenced the British and US votes, but in Italy "it's more connected with the euro". | |
| How 2016 goes down in history "will depend on what political leaders do next," he said. | |
| "If they put their heads in the sand and say: 'Well this will pass and we just carry on the way we are,' then 2016 will be seen as a real watershed. | |
| "But if, as I believe will happen, our democracies are flexible enough and our leaders are aware enough, they will correct - 'course correct' as I put it - the problems that they face. | |
| "So you will see a greater emphasis on trying to help those who are left behind." | |
| Euro turmoil | |
| But he warned: "If leaders don't take that approach - perhaps particularly in Europe - then it could go down as something quite different." | |
| The Daily Telegraph reported that Mr Cameron believed the future euro was hanging in the balance. | |
| "I see more trouble ahead," he said. "It is not working as it was intended. | |
| "Some countries have seen decades of lost growth. Those countries have a single currency and they don't have a single fiscal system, a fiscal tax system. It creates bigger differences. | |
| "You in the United States have ways to make sure that if you have a bad year you pay less in taxes and offset federal programmes. There are no such arrangements in Europe." | |
| Mr Cameron's speaking engagement at Depauw University - his first since he quit as prime minister in June and resigned as an MP in September - follows a well-worn path of speeches by former UK premiers. | |
| Tony Blair gave a speech there in 2008, the year after he resigned as PM, and John Major spoke there in 2001. | |
| It is not clear if Mr Cameron was paid for his speech, which came as it emerged his former chancellor George Osborne has earned more than £500,000 from lectures and appearances since being sacked by Theresa May. | |
| Earlier, Mr Cameron posted pictures of himself courtside at a US basketball game with ex-president George W Bush - and admitted he was still "a bit baffled" by the rules of the sport, despite seeing a previous game with avid fan President Obama in 2012. |