Respecting the will of the people represents one of the cornerstones of our widely recognised system of Parliamentary democracy.
Looking back on the June 2016 Referendum, one can, of course, speculate on the myriad and nuanced voting intentions across the electorate as a whole but this is a debate for another time.
In the meantime, it’s probably reasonable to surmise that those who voted to actually leave the Bloc at that time never envisaged the country’s imminent entry into a transitional (‘status quo’) period with no seat at the EU decision-making table and no real conviction as to when the arrangement will be concluded other than the fear of a never-ending and debilitating process of negotiation.
It’s therefore somewhat disingenuous to now pretend that the recently-negotiated ‘deal’ with the EU responds for all intents and purposes to the will of the people.
Not only that – having consumed most of the crucial time available under the ill-fated Article 50 Application with a mixture of political posturing and ideological indulgence, it surely adds insult to injury to then alarm these self-same voters (as well as the electorate as a whole) that, with the clock ticking down, there is no other alternative other than uncertainty and further division.
One final thought – if the electorate now understandably views the conclusion of the Draft Withdrawal Agreement and accompanying Political declaration as a constant drain on the National psyche, it will be seen as a ‘walk in the park’ when compared to what lies in store once the individual Member State interests come into play in negotiating a future FTA with the EU.
D. Kennedy
Ipswich