Referendums

It has occurred to me that the results of referendums, held in the United Kingdom (or parts thereof) are not accepted by those espousing the options put forward in the relevant question. This applies, in recent years, evidently to the Scottish Independence referendum of September 2014, and the Brexit referendum of June 2016.

Although SNP leader Alex Salmond declared the result of the Scottish poll to be the answer for a generation, it did not take long for the call for an indyref2 (second independence referendum) to be made by the Scottish National Party - until the present day. They lost by 45% to 55%, but clearly did not accept their loss. It is part of the Scottish psyche to feel hard done by the English (who had nothing to do with the poll) and therefore the SNP will keep going on about another referendum for as long as they are in power, or until they get a poll.

The Brexit referendum is an even clearer case in point. To the present day, three years and four months later, the political spectrum in the UK is still divided up by Leavers (those who wanted the UK to leave the EU) and Remainers (those who did not want to leave the EU). The membership of the EEC and now the EU has been a divisive issue within the (presently) ruling Conservative Party since the UK joined the EEC in 1973. Margaret Thatcher's handbagging of the European Council was legendary if not positively infamous, only serving to outline the UK as the awkward squad within Europe. Why the result of the referendum was not accepted by all involved (in the politics etcetera) is something for scientists in the field to look at. I think a contributory factor was that neither option was clearly defined in the poll. Nobody knew the consequences of Brexit, neither were the (dis)advantages of staying in the EU made very clear. Brexit was going to be negotiated out - well, we all know how well that has gone. To date, within days of leaving the EU, we still don't clearly know what Brexit actually means in practical terms.

The entire process has been a failure of the political system, brought about by internecine warfare within one political party and a failure of the opposition Labour Party to take advantage of this situation. Because Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party is just as split on the issue of Europe as the Tories are. Corbyn is not prepare to nail his colours to the mast on any issue. For instance, JC was being two-faced about adopting the internationally accepted definition of anti-semitism. And at the time of the Brexit referendum, he did not enthusiastically campaign to remain in the EU, which some were expecting him to do.

Brexit is the worst of both worlds. Heaven only knows what will happen between now and October 31st, when Brexit should happen; and hell only knows what will happen beyond.