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Originally Posted by VintageWomble
Scoundrel, as much as I admire and back your taste in vintage pornography, I'm afraid I must disagree with you on this. (You do seem like you'd be good fun/conversation over a few down at the local!).
The fiasco that was the Brexit referendum of June 23rd 2016 was a non binding one from the onset, because of one major characteristic of the democratic system of this country, and that has been inherently part of our traditions since Charles I : the sovereignty of Parliament.
This is inherent to the British "Rule of Law" that (should-but in some cases doesn't) govern our Nation.( If you want to learn more about that, my daughter's boyfriend introduced me to a youtube channel called Count Dankula, he raises a fair few good points in a video entitled "The Actual State of the UK") but I digress...
The way our Nation's political system works is based in part on a millenium of history, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that's what people who voted for Brexit wanted? To "preserve Britain's History"?
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Of course, a lot of the present difficulty arises because there were no details underpinning the Leave question in the June 2016 referendum, so the only proven fact is that there was a small but unmistakable majority of voters who voted to leave the EU. I suspect the script said that we would vote to Remain, thus making eventual integration into an ever closer Union almost a done deal. The reality is that the voters chose against the EU.
In a parliamentary democracy, the people elect the executive and the legislature; which is the basis of parliament being sovereign. We once chopped a man's head off to punish him for thinking he had a divine right to boss British people around, ignore their wishes and deny then their rights. King Charles I thought his authority came from God; but the event proved that it came from the consent of his people. This still remains the basis of authority in the UK - the consent of the governed. So when Parliament thinks a referendum on a constitutional issue can possibly be "non-binding", they are forgetting where their own authority comes from.