To the Streets
There was a huge pro-vote-on-the-actual-Brexit-deal-not-the-unicorn-bullshit protest in London today:
Anti-Brexit protesters flooded into central London by the hundreds of thousands on Saturday, demanding that Britain’s Conservative-led government hold a new referendum on whether Britain should leave the European Union.
The “People’s Vote March” snaked from Park Lane and other locations to converge on the U.K. Parliament, where the fate of Brexit will be decided in the coming weeks.
Marchers carried European Union flags and signs praising the longstanding ties between Britain and continental Europe. The protest drew people from across Britain who are determined to force Prime Minister Theresa May’s government to alter its march toward Brexit.
Meanwhile, this is an excellent thread about the ridiculous argument that democracy requires that the first, simple majority-vote, bad question, and grossly misleading campaign be held as a inviolable statement about the Will of the People:
4/ Direct democracy through consultative referendums on constitutional issues like #Brexit and Scot indy have a legitimate role to supplement parliamentary democracy, but in the UK they are advisory not binding.
— Pippa Norris (@PippaN15) March 23, 2019
6/ Democracy is a process not a one-off contest. Everyone is entitled to be consulted again to update their preferences in the light of new info.
— Pippa Norris (@PippaN15) March 23, 2019
8/Leave voters can, of course, still vote Leave again. Its their choice. Holding a 2nd referendum is important for democratic legitimacy, irrespective of the outcome.
— Pippa Norris (@PippaN15) March 23, 2019
10/ Finally (apologies again for the length and shouty caps!), OF COURSE giving people a further say in the future of the UK is democratic. When Westminster is divided, and parties split, it just makes sense to consult the people.
— Pippa Norris (@PippaN15) March 23, 2019
A second vote with a public much better informed about what the Brexiteers are actually offering is by far the best option.