Asking the people …

Steven Friedman thinks governments should act according to the “will of the people” (We should not berate politicians for listening to majority, August 8). That line of thinking is what has led to the UK facing its most serious existential crisis since the Battle of Britain: Brexit.

The problem with doing what the people want is firstly (as he correctly said) determining what they say they want, and then whether what they say they want will lead to the outcome they expect. For instance, will Brexit save £300m a week to give to the NHS, and will expropriation without compensation give every unemployed person a piece of land to farm or build a house on?

What the people say they want and what they will achieve is rarely the same thing because of wishful thinking, misinformation and irrationality.

Sydney Kaye Cape Town