UK Parliamentary Sovereignty

In the 2016 Referendum regarding EU membership there is at least one thing that most voters agreed upon: the UK parliament is sovereign. Members of Parliament decide upon the law of the land and can over rule the government. The 2016 referendum was only advisory; the government and parliament were not legally obliged to implement its result. If the referendum had been mandatory we probably would have left the EU by now. Also, the supreme court made clear to the government that the executive could not take  the UK out of the EU without the approval of parliament.

It is obvious that referendums should not be mandatory. What would happen if a UK government was mandated by the Northern Irish electorate to arrange for Northern Ireland to be incorporated into the Republic of Ireland and the civil war broke out again? The UK government would be under pressure to revoke such a referendum to ensure the peace.

What would happen if there was a mandatory referendum to abolish the Monarchy and it won by just one vote in a first past the post system. Royalists would quite rightly feel cheated upon especially if a substantial number of people did not vote in such a referendum. How would the Northern Irish feel if England and Wales voted for a Republic but Northern Ireland voted to retain the Monarchy.

Referendums are dangerous if they are not managed properly. The 2016 referendum should only have been made mandatory if there was a super majority to change the status quo and also only if a majority of the constituent nations of the UK voted for it. The 2016 referendum left us with a divided nation  and union which is becoming more divided by the minute.

The divisions within the governing Tory party and its  reliance upon the DUP have left the Prime Minister in a weak state to negotiate a satisfactory deal with the EU, which is both economically, diplomatically and militarily more powerful than the UK. The withdrawal agreements reflects this balance of power. It binds the UK into the economic and political orbit of the EU without a say in decision making. It is simply a terrible deal for the UK. The DUP are right about at least one thing; it is unacceptable that Northern Ireland should be held in the single market whilst the UK breaks away. Whilst Northern Ireland legally remains in the UK it should not be treated any differently on the international or diplomatic front.

Scotland voted to remain in the EU and its views should be taken into account. It is not lost on Scotland that the Republic of Ireland has now become diplomatically more powerful than the UK as a result of its continuing membership of the EU. Eventually the Scots will vote to leave the UK, if we leave the EU, and they will openly be welcomed by Bruxelles. The EU is now the glue that holds the UK together.

Gibraltar will be  in a precarious position if the UK leaves the EU. Gibraltar will then be recognised by the EU as a colony of the UK. Spain will then have the right to call for its decolonisation and the EU will be obliged to follow that decision. Membership  of the EU prevents  revanchism and its claims.

It is quite possible that a United Kingdom which leaves the EU could be faced with the stresses of deciding a new relationship with the EU whilst negotiating  with Scotland after a border poll for it to leave the UK. Add to that the possibility of the  troubles starting again in Northern Ireland because the rest of the UK has denied them a say on their future.  You then have a recipe for a severe, political, economic and diplomatic crisis.

I surmise that the Prime Minister has contemplated revoking Brexit.

Parliament is sovereign and it has a duty to represent the interests of everyone in the country. This includes the 13 million people who did not vote in the referendum and the youngsters who were not old enough to vote. It is not the will of the people that Brexit should either be executed in full or in disastrous part.

Parliament is quite entitled to change its mind, after it has voted for Brexit to be implemented, especially after the poor deal which has been negotiated. If parliament could not change its mind we would still have badger baiting as a sport. Women would be imprisoned for having back street abortions and you would still be obliged to pay a tax to the Church of England.

 A sovereign parliament exists to protect you from stupid actions such as going to unnecessary wars with your neighbours or declaring a Republic based on a one vote majority.

The Prime Minister has looked over the political and economic cliff edge and does not like what she sees. That is why she goes cap in hand to Bruxelles to ask for an extension to EU membership. If the referendum had been mandatory we would already be looking at political, economic, diplomatic, and administrative chaos. Scotland would probably have been on the way out of our precious union.

Parliament has protected us from the worse excesses of Brexit. Hopefully, it will vote to get us the best deal possible which is to Remain in the EU. All this trouble from a poorly conceived and managed referendum and its aftermath - was it really worth it?