Paul, just to respond to your questions on supporting democracy, second referendums: I do take democracy seriously but you've also seen my views previously as to why I voted remain and still support the idea of remaining in the EU. One thing about democracy is just because one's in the minority doesn't mean your view is wrong and the others are right; ok, you can say that's arrogant but if one really believes the facts support something then I also believe one shouldn't give up on it - I'm sure the Catholic churchand most of its followers considered Copernicus arrogant when he said the Earth wasn't the centre of the Universe? (Also I heard Mr Farage say on referendum night he was not giving up if he were to lose by a small margin.) Again, for reasons I explained previously I think achieving Brexit is a difficult, complex process prone to failure, if not actually impossible, because of conflicts in international treaties. Failure so far to achieve a solution that satisfies all spectrums in Parliament supports that. I think the complexities of Brexit means there is no simple solution, we're probably getting into the realms of "chaos theory"! A no deal Brexit is simple but the consequences and any adverse outcomes unpredictable so in my opinion it's a reckless option. (I believe evolving solutions to fix the shortcomings of the EU would be a less risky solution.) As I noted elsewhere, who would have thought a speeding offence by a dishonest MP would have led to a by-election where the incumbent major party would most likely be defeated by a party not created at the time of the offence? The UK is a parliamentary democracy and in practice any referendum is only advisory as (except where an international treaty has been ratified by parliament) any law can be subsequently reversed by parliament, as happens with workers' rights from time-to-time. So the UK's democracy has limitations which is further emphasised by it's first past the post system for general elections when most supporters of minority voters are effectively disenfranchised; and yes, I am a supporter of proportional representation to fix that. I won't go over anomalies raised by the original campaigns that might question the veracity of the 2016 outcome but I also believe from speaking to several leave voters prior to the 2016 referendum that they wished for a Norwegian style, or similar, relationship with the EU. You may be right, some may now support a hard Brexit as I know others did at the the time, but i believe the only democratic way of ascertaining that is another vote. I think, unless it proves technically I impossible, Parliament just failing to deliver Brexit could be considered undemocratic but having a second vote ispossibly unpopular but definitely not undemocratic. We may have to agree to disagree on this ...
Michael Ixer ● 2723d