Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Parliament must vote on Brexit
Confusingly, the EU referendum results were not given by parliamentary constituency so many people are not aware the majority of voters in the Canterbury constituency voted to remain (Judges Must Not Be Allowed To Halt Brexit, Warns MP, Kentish Gazette, November 17).
As we have a representative democracy, my understanding is the MP for the Canterbury and Whitstable constituency should represent this majority view of his constituents.
Instead, I am dismayed that Julian Brazier describes the recent High Court judgement as an attempt to stop the UK leaving the EU.
As Lib Dem James Flanagan noted, it is nothing of the sort.
It merely requires our representatives to consider and vote on triggering Article 50 in order to start the process of leaving.
When drafting the EU Referendum Act, Parliament clearly did not consider what should be done if the vote were to be leave, so Parliament now has to decide on the appropriate action rather than abrogating that responsibility to the prime minister.
Letting the prime minister take a major constitutional decision might be the first step to dictatorship – after all it was parliament that voted on whether to invade Iraq and the EU decision would be even more significant than that.
So, please, Mr Brazier, recognise the constitutional position and the wishes of the majority of your constituents, and ensure that Parliament does vote on this important matter. Chris Lowe Hackington Road, Tyler Hill, Canterbury
When Britain joined the in 1973, the proposal was first debated and approved by both houses of parliament under Edward Heath’s government, and then confirmed in a referendum by 66% of the