Voters must value democratic fairness consistently –not just when it suits them

Andrew Gray’s letter of 22 August shows that his thinking on Brexit is the polar opposite of mine.

He thinks the Common Market referendum of the Seventies was full of lies and implies that the recent 2016 one wasn’t.

He thinks that winning a referendum by a small majority is a great example of democracy. By contrast, the 18thcentury political philoso- pher Jean Jacques Rousseau advised us that democracy can be blighted when you have a tyranny of a small majority.

A post-truth black propaganda approach to politics is also short-termist and in the end causes just disillusionment. Leave politicians did not tell us that it would be difficult to get a deal, or that Norway-type options would be disastrous.

They didn’t tell us that we might have considerable immediate pain – chaos at ports, high food prices and shortages in stores and with the National Health Service.

They told us that getting a deal would be easy and Parliament would actually be able to vote to accept or reject that deal. “We will be better off from the first day,” they said. This seems increasingly unlikely.

Does Andrew Gray know that Michael Gove has recently admitted to feeling shame about the blatant use of untrue scare stories concerning Turkey being imminently likely to join the EU?

It might suit Mr Gray’s single-minded approach to Brexit that Parliament should be sidelined so the so-called will of the people can triumph, but Parliamentary Sovereignty is the one projection this democracy has against antidemocratic short-termist politicians.

As voters increasingly show buyer’s remorse we need to ask if the 2016 referendum wasn’t one of the most disgraceful in our history.

Had Scotland gone independent in 2014 we would all agree that damage limitation might justify a further referendum. Democracies need voters to value democratic fairness consistently – not just when it suits them.

ANDREW VASS Corbiehill Place, Edinburgh

Andrew Gray claims to remember“in the early Seventies that we were comprehensivelylied to and consequently voted to join the EEC”. He conveniently forgets that we were comprehensively lied to leading up to the 2016 referendum.

STEPHEN FOX St Ronan’s Terrace, Edinburgh