Moving on from here, it seems that only a second referendum is a way out of this mess but at the same time this second referendum could leave us with more problems than ever. The 2016 referendum had a straight choice, leave or remain. The result was Leave with a 51.9% vote, Remain scored 48.1%. The majority was 1,269,501 for the leavers. Despite this, Parliament has fought tooth and nail to get the nation out of their commitment to carry out the wishes of the majority. We can argue all day [or over three years] to find an agreement that is acceptable to Parliament, the EU and to the British electorate but that isn't going to happen and, if the 'second referendumers' get their way then there is going to be at least one other ballot, or more until we get the result that Parliament wants.
But what is to go on this ballot? Is it going to be another yes or no choice, or is it going to be a fudge by offering multiple options? I call it a fudge because, if the most talked about options are anything to go by then there will be three choices [1] Remain [2] Leave with a deal, or [3] Leave without a deal. This would be a dangerous ballot as the winning result would still need a majority vote of over 50% to make it viable. If one of these options was declared to be the 'winner' by scoring, say, 40% of the vote with the others totalling 30% each, then how could 40% be deemed a binding verdict when 60% voted against it whereas over 50% of the 2016 ballot had their wishes obstructed?
The more I look at it, the more it seems to resemble banana republics and their attitudes towards their electorates.
