Mal Fletcher considers the UK's future in light of Brexit.

David Cameron has been, for the most part, a principled leader. On some issues he pivoted a little more toward liberalism than some within his party and the electorate would have liked. However, he has been upfront about his plans and has tried to explain his motivations.

Until now, he has been seen as a very lucky Prime Minister. He pulled a win out of the hat in the closely fought Scottish Independence referendum of 2014. Then, less than a year later, he guided the Tories to their first outright general election since, I think, 1992.

One wonders now, though, whether he will be seen more as the great gambler than the great statesman.

He is a gifted politician, without doubt, and an honourable man. The question history must answer in time, though, is whether he had developed too much of a taste for risk. Perhaps in the end he pushed his luck once too often.

Now, some might ask whether Nick Clegg's first-term boast about having kept the Tories from their own worst excesses wasn't without merit.

Mr Cameron promised the EU referendum in his last election manifesto largely for political reasons, some of them quite understandable. In order to win a general election outright, Cameron needed to neutralise the UKippers on his right.

Although he was once something of a Eurosceptic himself, he also wanted to end the Tories' decades-long bickering over Britain's sometimes troubled relationship with the EU.

Does all of that constitute leadership, or political tactics and opportunism? Or is one intrinsically linked to the other in politics? It's doubtful you could call it strategy.

Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat leader and a passionate Remainer, has expressed anger at the result of the referendum. He outlined what he saw as the UK's impending economic demise.

It is understandable that he should be upset about the result, when his party had fought hard for the other side.

But talking about doomsday scenarios will not move the story forward from here. The nation needs leaders to sound and behave as if they're ready to overcome whatever the future throws at them and us.

The British spirit of pluck in times of deep uncertainty has become legendary. The UK's ability to produce highly creative entrepreneurs, inventors and disruptive thinkers has earned kudos the world over.

It's high time those qualities were embodied in and projected by the nation's leaders.