Quote of the day 22nd October 2017

"I don't ever want to see another referendum in my lifetime."

(Kenneth Clarke, former Chancellor, in a speech which you can read about here, also suggested that there is "little doubt" that Britain will leave the EU and any second referendum on the terms of exit would be "folly." He added

"The political class as a whole, leaving aside eccentrics like me" ... "they've all decided that this referendum" ... "is the voice of the people."

"They did all say during the referendum that they were going to be bound by it so they do regard themselves as bound by it.")

Comments

Jim said…
i want to see at least one a year. its the way forward
Jim said…
Demand 5.

No tax, charge or levy shall be imposed, nor any public spending authorised, nor any sum borrowed by any national or local government except with the express approval the majority of the people, renewed annually on presentation of a budget which shall first have been approved by their respective legislatures
Anonymous said…
The technology is available today have a true Democracy - let the people decide.
Chris Whiteside said…
For the avoidance of doubt, the quote is Ken Clarke's opinion, not mine, and he described himself in the same article as taking an "eccentric" view which is not that of the political mainstream.

I don't however like the idea of referenda for the sake of referenda.

They should be used where on an important issue

1) there is a clear and straightforward binary choice, and
2) there is reason to think that a referendum will better reflect the wishes of the people than the normal parliamentary process (for example, where parliament is an interested party)



Chris Whiteside said…
I do think there are cases where a referendum is the right way to move forward on an issue, and do not agree with Ken Clarke on this.

However, I think it is worth taking a pause to reflect on how referenda can be run more effectively and fairly as a genuine test of public opinion before the next time we hold one.

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