In a historic referendum, the British people have voted decisively to leave the European Union. The chattering classes are as certain of impending doom as they were certain Remain would prevail. The truth of the matter is the wisdom of this choice will be known only in the fullness of time.Other conclusions are less premature. Prime Minister David Cameron's decision to hold this referendum will undoubtedly be remembered as one of the greatest political miscalculations of our age. Canada's recent political blunders pale in comparison.Ontario readers will remember John Tory's infamous pledge to extend public funding to faith based schools in Ontario's 2007 election. Similarly, who could forget 2008's aborted coalition spearheaded by none other than Stéphane Dion. As disastrous as these decisions were, Tory and Dion's political fortunes rebounded and both men now find themselves at the apex of their careers.David Cameron's story, however, will not be one of redemption. He will have no second act. His legacy, auspicious after a significant election victory only 18 months ago, is in tatters and unlikely to improve with the passage of time.If the alarmists are proven correct and the United Kingdom finds itself mired in irreversible decline, David Cameron will be remembered as the man who opened Pandora's box by holding a referendum that should never have beenCampaign pledges have been broken with far less at stake. Indeed, if Cameron's campaign rhetoric is to be believed, leaving the EU will prove ruinous. Cameron rolled the dice and his country now stands at the precipice. That is not leadership; it is reckless.Conversely, should the punditocracy once again be proven wrong by a United Kingdom thriving outside the EU, Cameron will be remembered as the man who doubted his country could, as it did so successfully in centuries past, flourish at Europe's periphery on its own terms.As Britain charts a course forward, one other thing is certain: David Cameron has lost the moral authority to govern. Throughout this campaign he argued forcefully that the United Kingdom could not succeed outside the European Union; but the people have spoken and succeed outside the European Union it must. Cameron is not equipped for this task. He should resign within days, not months. There is no time to waste.