The People Have Spoken!

 But What Did They Say?

By Les May

WE live in a liberal democracy with representative government. What that means in practice is that every five years we elect an MP we think will best represent our views in Parliament.  That’s the democracy bit.  The liberal bit is that when laws are to be enacted it isn’t just that of the majority which are taken into account, our laws take into account the views of minorities.  We do not insist that Sikhs wear crash helmets and we tolerate ritual slaughter of animals which many people, including me, find an abomination in a civilised society.

It is our acceptance of the idea of liberal democracy which distinguishes us from totalitarian states in which only one view is tolerated and other viewpoints are ignored or suppressed.

Liberal democracy in Britain is under threat and it is under threat from those who should uphold it most strongly, some of our MPs, not a majority of them, but a significant and noisy minority.  They claim legitimacy for ignoring the views of anyone but those who think like them, by telling us that they are seeking to enact ‘the will of the British people’ as expressed in the 2016 referendum.

A week ago ‘the British people’ had another opportunity to express their will. Only 35% of votes were cast for parties which insist that they can ignore the views of the 48% of people who voted not to leave the EU in 2016.  Hardly a ringing endorsement for abandoning the basic principle of liberal democracy.

If we are to continue to live in a liberal democracy then we need to face down those who insist that they, and they alone, have a right to determine how we leave the European Union.   Unless we do this we are allowing them to take the first tentative steps to totalitarianism.  As the saying goes ‘Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile.

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