I wonder what Dickens would have made of this fiasco. A prime minister within a coalition offers in his party`s election manifesto a referendum on an issue which has divided this self same party for over a generation. Against all the odds and to his own utter amazement he wins that election and is faced with putting his commitment to the people. Surely his best of times. So he goes to Angela Merkel with hardly enough of an argument or plea to cause a blip in her intransigence hoping against hope that she would offer the bare minimum of a piece of paper with her signature on it to cover his arse. Locked into what is a dream for some of his party that is becoming his nightmare he and his cohorts fail to frighten the electorate into submitting to his will. He wakes on June 24th assuring us he will remain as prime minister only to resign a short time later whereupon the final ignominy of this incompetent unprepared inept prime minister arrives; his worst of times, and he resigns his seat.
Chickens are returning in droves to roost. It would appear that the crass incompetent advisors and parliamentarians who steered the referendum bill through parliament and who voted six to one for it did not even realise exactly what they were voting for. As a Brexiteer all my adult life I am dismayed that those same incompetents are now calling foul when faced with the inevitable consequences of their own fallibility. Castigating the High Court judges who have pronounced on the legal position is a disgraceful reaction to their own failings. There cannot be true democracy without a balance of law and representative government. If the Supreme Court upholds the decision it will demonstrate that this country with its unwritten constitution cannot have referendums on policy. Such a device has now been demonstrated as totally incompatible with a parliament which makes law.
One thing is for sure: there might have been previous leaders with great expectations who could be summed up by Dickens but Cameron will never make that company. "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."
Parliament knew fine well what they were about. The European Union Referendum Act 2015 contains no authority, explicit or implicit, to revoke the European Union Act 1972, or any other piece of statute or regulation. The result does indeed carry no more legislative authority than an opinion poll.
ReplyDeleteAnd I say that as a passionate Brexiteer, who saw this coming the moment the Act was rubber stamped.
It does beg the question of what follows when - and I think it's well beyond a question of "if" at this point - Parliament rejects all notion of Brexit, while huffily pontificating about the merits of representative democracy, the rule of law, and our proud, noble, inviolate, unwritten, capricious and volatile "constitution."
I imagine there will be some grumbling that someone ought to do something, then we'll put the kettle on and go back to our daily grind.