Quote:
Originally Posted by Damien
Good article here on Brexit: https://www.spectator.co.uk/2018/12/...of-our-nation/ (open in private/incognito mode if you've hit the read limit)
I disagree with some of it but think this bit is very true:
Governments shouldn't hold referendums into decisions where they disagree with the 'change' option. |
The real origin of the mess we are now in is that Cameron did not mandate a
Supermajority for the referendum.
Insisting on a simple, arithmetic majority for such a significant structural & economic change was always doomed to be divisive and as such could never have delivered a compelling mandate, as we can clearly see.
Chris Patten had a strong argument against the use of referenda:
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Referendum#/Patten's_criticism
Quote:
British politician Chris Patten summarized many of the arguments used by those who oppose the referendum in an interview in 2003, when discussing the possibility of a referendum in the United Kingdom on the European Union Constitution:
I think referendums are awful. The late and great Julian Critchley used to say that, not very surprisingly, they were the favourite form of plebiscitary democracy of Mussolini and Hitler. They undermine Westminster. What they ensure, as we saw in the last election, is that if you have a referendum on an issue, politicians during an election campaign say: "Oh, we're not going to talk about that, we don't need to talk about that, that's all for the referendum." So during the last election campaign, the euro was hardly debated. I think referendums are fundamentally anti-democratic in our system, and I wouldn't have anything to do with them. On the whole, governments only concede them when governments are weak.
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---------- Post added at 06:16 ---------- Previous post was at 06:06 ----------
I think a second vote had inched a step closer:
Brexit: EU says no to May on renegotiating deal
Quote:
European Union leaders have said the Brexit withdrawal agreement is "not open for renegotiation", despite appeals from Theresa May.
She wanted legal assurances on the Irish backstop to help her deal get through Parliament, after she delayed a Commons vote in anticipation of defeat.
The PM said the deal was "at risk" if MPs' concerns could not be addressed.
European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said there could be clarifications but no renegotiation.
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It will all now play out as a game of brinkmanship. Who is better prepared for No Deal and so who will therefore blink first. I would put money on the EU being more prepared than the UK.
The vote will be lost in Jan, the clock rapidly running down with a No Deal as the only option so Parliament will force the Government to extend the A50 deadline to allow more consideration of "all possible options".