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You've been downvoted, but this is the core issue preventing a simple solution. It is legitimately damaging to democracy to have the results of a referendum ig
by matthewmacleod 8y ago
You've been downvoted, but this is the core issue preventing a simple solution.
It is legitimately damaging to democracy to have the results of a referendum ignored. That referendum shouldn't have been executed in the manner it was, but we can't ignore the outcome.
The problem is, the practical reality of that vote (as it has worked out) is pretty sketchy, and pleases very few people. So now we have the three immediate options of "no deal" (obviously catastrophic), "negotiated deal" (no political support) and "cancel" (directly opposed to the referendum outcome).
Honestly the only way I see out of it with even a shred of democracy left is to hold a second referendum to ratify the deal.
- pmyteh 8y agoI agree. The problem with a second referendum, though, is that the vote is to stay it won't be "the country" changing its mind. The country doesn't have one. If 5 percentage points of the previous 52% change their minds, the 47% that voted (Brexit, Brexit) will feel betrayed, as they will (actually) have been sold out. They were told that their first decision would count, then people-who-were-not-them demanded another vote, then people-who-were-not-them took their victory away. Of course, those of us who voted (Remain, Remain) will be happy, but this isn't exactly analogous to a general election, where this kind of change-of-result is expected. The referendum was supposed to be a one-off, and 'those people' will have stolen Brexit. I have a bit of sympathy for this position, but I have a lot more concern for the long-term consequences of reducing trust in the political process even further.