‘The only solution is to take the final Brexit decision out of the hands of politicians.’ With these words, the Conservative MP, Justine Greening set off the latest media storm to hit Theresa May and her beleaguered government. The British prime minister, though, was quick to rule this out.
However, this won’t stop the debate raging over the coming weeks. Entirely missing from this debate, however – or indeed the aftermath of the last referendum – has been any reflection on what referendums are for and why and when they work.
Many politicians will have come away from the past few years with the conclusion that the referendum itself was a big part of problem: it’s not that a referendum was not the right response to this situation, it’s that they are not the right response to any situation. If this conclusion were to stick it would be a huge shame.
People want more control over their lives. When they believe their voice isn’t heard and their vote doesn’t matter, they don’t engage.
The Brexit referendum – and to an even greater extent the Scottish Independence vote – (temporarily) reversed this.
Up and down the country people debated the issues in a way rarely seen in British politics.
The EU referendum saw the highest turnout in a UK-wide vote since 1992, while the Scottish independence referendum in 2014 produced the highest turnout in a large-scale vote in living memory.
