Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr K
So you're making the case for a separate referendum? ��
I get the 'once in a generation' thing, but it will have been nearly 10 years so it is a new generation. 10 years worth of new voters.
Personally I think it would be a disaster for all concerned, but up to them. The inevitable break up of the UK is one of the consequences of another referendum we had, maybe everyone wants to now 'take back control'. (a vote that we had a few times on the same issue so there is a precedent).
Denying people a vote on an issue, because you're scared of the result, won't end well and could well backfire when the next vote does happen.
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I am making the case for a stand-alone referendum, yes, and within the parameters set out by Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon in late 2013 and throughout 2014 - namely that such things are “once in a generation, if not once in a lifetime” events.
Denying a vote now isn’t fear of the outcome, it’s fear of the process, alongside an appeal to respect the parameters of the debate and the vote, all of which were set by the campaign for a yes/leave vote. The entire UK has now experienced the deeply unpleasant consequences of dividing the electorate on a constitutional issue that is substantially grounded in national identity. Scotland has been experiencing that on steroids since 2014 because there is no natural permanent lobby for status quo but there is one for change, namely the SNP, which obviously isn’t going to give up on its whole reason to exist.
Imagine a remain vote in 2016 and where the UK might now be with Nigel Farage and the Brexit Party or some variation on it. Had Brexit been settled by a narrow remain vote, how accommodating would you now be of his inevitable demands for a re-run?