Thursday 30 June 2016

Democracy! For one night only!

I enjoyed that democracy.  Can I have some more, please, because I’m not used to it and I’m not sure I used it to its, or indeed my, best advantage?

More?  MORE?  No, you bloody can’t.  That’s enough democracy for you.

Very Dickensian.  Which is jolly British and ever so nice if you ignore Mr Dickens’s brilliant social commentary and biting wit.

I get why the people who are happy with their vote to leave the EU don’t want a second referendum.

What I don’t get is that they shout “Democracy!  The People have spoken!” as a reason not to have a second referendum.

Look, lads – you can’t have it both ways.

If a referendum is democratic, how is two referenda undemocratic? 

Does there come a point where too much democracy sends the whole thing into a handbrake turn and it turns in on itself?  What nonsense.

Democracy is a good thing.  Let’s have all the democracy.  No?

People who are happy with their vote to leave are not going to change their vote.

People who are happy with their vote to remain are not going to change their vote.

People who are not happy with their decision (either way) on 23rd June, given the enormous amount of information which has since come to light surely have the right to be heard?

How is that not democratic?

I’m actually campaigning on behalf of Leave voters, here.

It transpires that the Leave campaign told some very large lies and based their campaign on policies which they had neither the power nor the ability to deliver.  They haven't got £350million to give to the NHS.  They have no money and if they did, they wouldn't give it to the NHS, as they have already stated that they want to privatise the NHS - yes, that means you pay for your healthcare.  They also are not going to stop or cap or limit immigration, because they can't - and they knew they couldn't but they still based their campaign heavily on this.  They had no plan in place for what to do next, because they didn't mean to win.

People now know this and they feel cheated.

It transpires that a lot of people voted to leave the EU just as a protest against the government, and actually wanted to stay.

People now wish they had used their right to protest in a different way and feel robbed.

We also hear that people weren’t sure whether the referendum was advisory or legally binding – it sure wasn’t stated on the tin. 

Well, it’s not legally binding but, hell’s bells, 1 million more people, on one day, with a flawed and false campaign pushing them, wanted it, so let’s all go to hell in a handcart, because sticking to your guns, in this country, even when you get new information that demonstrates that you were wrong, is seen as a virtue.  This lady’s not for turning, my arse.

The popular press are finally printing some truths about what leaving the EU will actually mean to the average man on the street, rather than printing a load of emotive rhetoric, over Union Jack backgrounds, about how leaving the EU will Make Britain Great Again.

The average man on the street, now understanding what it means to him, feels horrified and wants to be given a second chance.

28% of the population believed either that we were going to remain in the EU by an easy majority or that their vote wouldn’t count anyway.

They now realize that this didn’t happen and that every single vote counted.  Whether they would have voted to stay or go, they deserve to be heard.

Young people, aged 16-18, were not included in the vote.  They are demanding to be heard, and they are the ones whose world was just made a little smaller.  A little more insular.

I believe they should be heard.

How does allowing any of these people to speak again qualify as undemocratic? 

Democracy wasn’t just for the 15 hours that the polling booths were open.

Democracy is ongoing.

When we hear new facts, we CAN change our opinions.

What I’d really like to do is wind back the clock and let people remember everything they have learned this last week, and give them chance to vote again for the first time.  Sadly, even though I’ve concentrated so hard I strained myself and risked a recurrence of my umbilical hernia, I can’t manage that. 

But I’d really like everyone to get a second chance to speak and vote in the non-science-fiction world that we live in.  With no Leave Campaign and no Remain Campaign pushing everyone’s buttons and playing with peoples lives for their own entertainment and the furtherance of their own careers.  Just a Campaign of Information – calm, measured information that will help The People to make an informed decision.

The People Have Spoken.  So what?  Are The People never allowed to speak again?


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