Public vote on Brexit deal would be logical choice
A POLL in one of the Sunday papers pointed to a huge upsurge in the number of people who have changed their minds on the question of leaving the European Union.
The change is so significant now that it would turn no fewer than 100 Westminster seats from being “leave” to “remain.” That forces some pretty challenging questions about democracy itself.
I’ve written in the Record many times about why I think we need a people’s vote on the deal, so that the public can have the last word over what Theresa May cooks up with the EU27.
The most common argument against is that it’s somehow undemocratic. That the people have had their say and that should be respected – end of. But why should we place “respecting” the result above all other criteria such as, you know, economic freefall and the need to stockpile food?
Why should we respect a result that we now know one side cheated to achieve?
They broke the rules on money and on data. That’s before you got to the lies they told with it.
I’ll tell you what’s undemocratic, giving the people two boxes and one cross and calling it the sum game of democracy. We should be able to shape and influence policy at every stage and the truth is we often do without even knowing.
Governments test ideas all the time by doing opinion polls. There’s also that old adage that when the facts change, we can change our minds, too.