Quote:
Originally Posted by Undertoad
I admit I don't know how a country should be run, but it is very interesting how many people are saying DEMOCRACY has failed.
If the vote doesn't go a certain way the most important thing to do is override it. Or vote again until we get it right. Because the people were fooled, misled, and mistaken. Or there weren't enough of them. Or they are too ignorant, in different ways, to be trusted.
I guess I'm with you on this. But I'm not sure how hating on the vote itself, more than the result, is going to work out.
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There are several reasons why people are saying that democracy failed. In terms of the people being misled - yes, they absolutely were. The twomain planks of the Leave campaign have been disavowed by the Leave campaigners now that the vote is done. A significant proportion of voters voted without really knowing anything about it. Many of those voters have since declared that they regret voting the way they did, did not expect it to actually turn into a win for Brexit, would like a do-over knowing now what they do.
A large number, possibly majority, of those voting to leave the EU were using this referendum as a protest vote having felt utterly disenfranchised and left behind by successive governments and oppositions. Democracy had already failed them and this was their expression of dissatisfaction at that failure.
There was no need for a referendum. What was needed was an actual conversation about immigration and about investment in infrastructure and jobs. Instead, governments and oppositions have, for quite some time now, used 'standing up to Brussels' as a way to look strong at election time, or 'not standing up to Brussels' as a scourge for the incumbent party. Nobody in a leadership role has been willing to seriously engage with the benefits of EU membership, or tackle the wildly inaccurate coverage of EU matters in the media. The opening to the final act in this particular frenzy, was the Prime Minister promising a referendum on EU membership in order to bolster his standing coming into an election, a promise that it would be a simple 'in - out' question - because, hey, we really don't want to complicate such an important question of our national future with any kind of nuance*, and was then followed up by leading Tories winding up the Leave campaign in order to cause political damage to the current PM and bolster their chances of winning the leadership election that will follow Cameron's demise.
The leading Brexit campaigner - Boris Johnson, has been previously fired from two jobs, one in journalism and one in politics, for lying. He is one of the biggest sellers of tabloid 'EU rules' lies (straight bananas and prawn cocktail crisps being the most well-known) in the game. Within a few days of winning, he'd been ousted by his former supporter, and didn't really put up much of a fight. In fact he's been strangely absent from much of the fuss in the immediate aftermath - he didn't for example attend the commons debate in the wake of the referendum results. Where was he/ Playing fucking cricket.
This small group of men, most of whom attended the same schools as each other, have played an elaborate game of chicken with each other They've shattered our country in order to play their game.
Nobody expected this to happen. The people who put it out to the electorate expected a narrow win for remain. On both sides. It wasn't meant to happen. It was a political football and nobody expected to actually score a goal with it. I don't think many people who voted Leave actually thought we would. We are so jaded as a democracy that we have a default expectation that nothing will really change. So many people have expressed surprise that Brexit won and their vote was a part of making it so, and many of them have also expressed sorrow that such a thing was allowed to happen. because they weren't really voting on the EU, they were voting against the government and opposition - they were voting against Westminster politics and the politicians who have failed them. Actually leaving Europe wasn't part of the plan for a lot of people who voted to leave.
* For something that could have such a profound impact on the country's future there is also a strong argument for a two-thirds or 60% majority required for change.