Britain's own Trump

[BmorePat87]

(07-26-2019, 04:26 PM)GMDino Wrote: It was non-binding?  I was told it was presented as the final word and there would be no going back.

Sidenote:  Do this board NOT have a member from the UK on it?  Just thinking I've never heard from one on this subject one way or the other.

Referendums in the UK are non-binding. Conservative Party leaders said they'd honor it (and did try) but no one else is bound by their promise. If I did not support Brexit and my constituents don't, why would I honor a promise made by a few colleagues that I did not agree to?

Who in 2019 is bound by campaign promises made by David Cameron in 2009 and 2013? Who in the 2017 election? Who following the 2016 referendum?

Hell, whether or not the referendum itself was democratic can be questioned. How would the voting had differed if all ex-pat Brits were allowed to vote? Anyone who was a citizen but had been living abroad for over 15 years couldn't vote, even though they allowed non citizen residents to vote (but only those non citizens from non EU nations...).

You also have to ask how the voting may have differed if there existed more than just "remain" or "leave" as options or if there had been a commission funded by the government study options and their impact. If I am frustrated with the status quo, but prefer negotiations, I may still be inclined to vote leave as it seems to imply that there's a solution to the problem and not just more of a problem. Things like this need to be worked out in a legislative setting where multiple options  can be weighed, multiple opinions taken into account, not a highly complex policy being reduced to a binary choice.