A new election probably won't address the UK's current lack of leadership, especially if one of the leading demagogues behind Brexit takes office. Parliament could, however, by rejecting the referendum outcome.
David Cameron serves as Prime Minister, but in title only. In the face of a narrow 51.9%-48.9% outcome in favor of exiting the European Union on a non-binding referendum, he all but panicked. In his state, what was actually a very narrow margin appeared to be an insurmountable mandate. As a result, he declared that the govenment must be bound by the outcome. That is his opinion and it might be his preference. It is not fact. The referendum was non-binding from the start.
That Brexit would provide very little economic, political, or social gains--there would very likely be a large net loss for the UK and Europe--was not part of the Prime Minister's calculations. Even the British Pound's having fallen to just under $1.32 on the foreign exchange markets--a level last seen when the Dow Jones Industrials was below 1600 and the Soviet Union still menaced the world stage--there was no indication of stirring leadership capacity within the Prime Minister. He appeared locked in a Zombie-like trance, marching the UK to Brexit.
On the Labour Front, a similar leadership void prevailed. A hapless and unprepared Jerry Corbyn was confronted with a "no confidence" vote following his anemic effort to oppose the Brexit campaign.
Meanwhile, the demagogues who had exploited this leadership vacuum, Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson, were now desperately running away from the Brexit campaign's central promise of an enormous £350 million per week withdrawal "dividend." What had been misrepresented as the defining argument for withdrawing from the European Union had evaporated. One could expect a similar outcome across the Atlantic were the candidate who promised, "I will be the greatest jobs president that God ever created," ever elected. That's what demagogues do. They make exagerrated promises, tie them to the needs and aspirations of the voters, then abandon them once they achieve their ultimate goals (Brexit for Farage and power for Johnson, as he is positioning himself to become Prime Minister)
Sad as this tale is, a bad ending is still completely avoidable. It depends only on Parliament's recognizing that the referendum was non-binding, produced an outcome that is damaging to the UK's interests, and may have produced that outcome on account of the deceptive practices of its proponents. Parliament should reject the result of the referendum and bring an end to the UK's needless crisis.