I've just been listening to David Lammy and Frank Field (both Labour MPs) debating the implications of 4 million people signing the petition for a second referendum. (It was on The Daily Politics via the BBC website).
Lammy relied on the tired argument that the turnout meant that 67% of the electorate didn't vote Leave. On that basis no government has ever had much of a mandate. He even argued stay aways presumably were happy with the status quo. Eh? They didn't care enough to have an opinion, chum, so you can't count them!
He also ran the now almost equally tired argument that there wasn't/isn't a plan. There probably couldn't be a plan, but people still voted Leave, knowing that. So hard cheese there as well.
He also said that there should be a second referendum or it should come back to Parliament when there is a plan, after the negotiation. A second, post negotiation, referendum isn't going to work, as it could fatally undermine the negotiation with the EU: there could be game playing to try to keep us in. I assume any deal will have to be put to Parliament to be ratified but watch out MPs: on this one you are mandated.
Field sensibly noted that things have moved on; Mrs May has made appointments specifically to expedite Brexit and the referendum result was clear. In other words, even if you think there are bridges, they are about to be burned.
I think I've had enough of this debate. Let's be clear here and now. I voted Remain but, if there's a second referendum I will have to vote Leave.
You cannot give the people this kind of vote and then try to say they didn't mean it, they were misinformed, or they couldn't see through the lies and obfuscation. You could say that about any General Election, after all.
And I say that accepting the description of the Leave campaign by the Sunday Times Deputy Business Editor, Simon Duke, as "mendacious". It was that and internally incoherent as well. But it won the day against arguably equally mendacious Project Fear.
The people have spoken and, to their credit, the government (Cameron led and now May led) has heard, listened and taken it on board. Time for the sore losers to accept it too.
It won't surprise you that I don't often read the Guardian. However, clicking on a news link soon after the referendum, I read a remarkable article by Zoe Williams suggesting six "practical" ways to fix the brexit mess (at http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/brexit-fallout-six-practical-ways-to-help-fix-this-mess/ar-AAhJt32?li=AA9SkIr&ocid=spartanntp, 29 June). The first point was to stop calling for a second referendum. (To be fair this was because she argued the Leave case would fall apart. Well maybe it already did, but it's still going to happen by the look of things). She predicted the Tories would take 6 months to resolve their leadership and she called for a snap General Election, which I covered yesterday.She concluded by urging people to turn up at marches and events against Brexit. Ah, right. We know an anti-democrat when we see one. Lose the vote so to the barricades.
Remain or Leave was a simple question. It got answered. Just imagine what these people would be saying if the result had been 52-48 for Remain and UKIP were marching and calling for a re-run. They would be beside themselves with moral indignation. Just look at yourselves, will you?
Folks were well manipulated Phil. Yes you saw what was going on and so did others but a majority of the voters, especially the readers of the right wing tabloid press, have been fed lies about the EU for many years. They followed those lies and now we are told that 7% of Brexit voters regret their decision.
ReplyDeleteAs for Frank Field, what on earth was he doing being a Brexiter? You can understand 50% of the Tory Party and all the UKIP lot being Brexiters but a man supposedly of the left, that's weird. Having said that there has always been a section of the Labour vote that really are right wingers but tribal loyalty through generations tells them to vote Labour. It seems some of them even get to be Labour MP's!
Cameron warned about buyers' remorse but I don't think many knew what he was on about. But all you can do is hold the vote, you can't nursemaid people. And while some folk might regret their vote, I know many people who voted Leave who are fed up with being characterised as xenophobic morons: professional people with hugely successful careers and experience in business, industry, health, teaching and academia. It certainly wasn't just a howl of rage from the overlooked and dispossessed as it's been made out to be. For what it's worth, many of these folk regard my reluctant Remain vote as a weak cop out and I haven't come across a single one who regrets voting Leave - yet, anyway!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
Delete