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This has the potential to go off the rails very quickly. 51% of the electorate who voted 5 years ago said they wished to leave the EU. This is absolutely true.

This has the potential to go off the rails very quickly. 51% of the electorate who voted 5 years ago said they wished to leave the EU. This is absolutely true. The nuance here is that of that 51%, their reasons for voting to leave and their intended/desired future arrangement with the EU was not uniform. Some wished to maintain close ties (common market, freedom of movement, regulatory alignment etc), others wanted a clean break from everything, and a spectrum of opinion in between the two Brexit was many things to many different people. It’s this ambiguity and room for manoeuvre in defining what exactly “Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union” is, which has been seized upon by the power-hungry, who are a minority of all Brexiteers, but a sizeable portion of the Eurosceptic MPs of the Conservative party at the time. It appears obvious that Cameron intended the referendum to silence the eurosceptic wing of the Conservative party once and for all, as the Alternative Vote referendum did to reform of “first past the post” in the previous administration. This backfired on him spectacularly. And he resigned immediately once the gambit failed.

Vespasian 5y ago
But even in the "best case" where 51% voted to remain it would still have not settled the conflict. It was essentially 50/50 and that's not a clear vote for anything. The UK was (is?) deeply split on what relationship it wants with Europe.
- Tsiklon 5y ago
  I agree completely with you. Personally, the referendum in my opinion should have been "Remain in the EU" vs "Clear defined vision for what we want after leaving the EU", literally any of the definitions of it; "hard brexit", or "soft brexit". That would have killed the ambiguity, and would have ensured that any the end result of such a referendum would carry the support of all the people who voted to leave.
- Beldin 5y ago
  I don't think a yes/no vote on a complex issue where there was blatant propaganda (bordering on misinformation) in support of either side really tells you much about how citizens feel about the actual complexities of case. Phrased differently: no. I do believe the UK is deeply split on whether to believe certain media/politicians though.

Vespasian 5y ago

But even in the "best case" where 51% voted to remain it would still have not settled the conflict. It was essentially 50/50 and that's not a clear vote for anything. The UK was (is?) deeply split on what relationship it wants with Europe.

Tsiklon 5y ago
I agree completely with you. Personally, the referendum in my opinion should have been "Remain in the EU" vs "Clear defined vision for what we want after leaving the EU", literally any of the definitions of it; "hard brexit", or "soft brexit". That would have killed the ambiguity, and would have ensured that any the end result of such a referendum would carry the support of all the people who voted to leave.
Beldin 5y ago
I don't think a yes/no vote on a complex issue where there was blatant propaganda (bordering on misinformation) in support of either side really tells you much about how citizens feel about the actual complexities of case. Phrased differently: no. I do believe the UK is deeply split on whether to believe certain media/politicians though.