by John Brian Shannon

Why would some UK politicians attempt to delay Brexit by pushing for a so-called ‘People’s Vote’ when holding a General Election is the best ‘People’s Vote’ of all?

There must be a reason.

And the reason some UK Members of Parliament are running scared of voters is because they know they might possibly delay Brexit by contriving the conditions necessary to hold a 2nd EU referendum, but they also know they’d probably lose their seat in the House of Commons should a UK General Election be held anytime soon.

Which doesn’t strike me as democratic.

Some of these MP’s are very shouty about the benefits of democracy and freedom of choice. I hate to point out the obvious here, but if you’re calling for a 2nd referendum (that you wrongly imagine you can win) and are simultaneously trying to prevent a General Election, you’re not a democrat.

In short, if you’re using your elected position to inflict your personal agenda on Britons it means you’re a pirate, not a democrat.

A so-called ‘People’s Vote’ via a UK General Election is the best ‘People’s Vote’ of all. Image courtesy of The Sun.

What do ‘The People’ Think?

Some 60% of Britons want the government to get on with it!

And that percentage includes former Remainers who respect the fact that the democratic Will of the People is more important than their personal bias.

Now, that’s a subgroup of people who believe in democracy and they deserve plenty of respect from Brexiteers.

Are We There Yet?

I’ll remind you that it took the UK working with its allies 2042-days to defeat the biggest war machine ever created in World War II. Meanwhile, it’s taken 1,209-days (as of today) to get almost nowhere on the Brexit file. Pathetic! But the UK shares the blame with the EU as both seem to have a problem delivering on the democratic Will of the People.

Such democracies can only be seen as something less than pure democracies because they aren’t as responsive as they should be in delivering on the Will of The People.

Most Britons believe MP’s had plenty of time to discuss Brexit. Image courtesy of USA Today.

The ‘Will of Parliament’ is Nothing Compared to The ‘Will of The People’

If UK politicians derive their political legitimacy from voters (and they do) then those politicians have agreed to be bound by the wishes of the people who elect them.

Democracy can’t work any other way because by any reasonable definition, any other way isn’t democratic.

So, why are these politicians using the power granted them by their constituents to pursue their own agenda, instead of doing the job done they’ve been hired to do?

And what more do they think can be accomplished that wasn’t accomplished in the 1209-days (40.3 months) since the 2016 EU referendum?

Yes, it is the remit of the government to decide ‘how’ and ‘when’ things happen, but it is not the remit of the government to decide ‘what’ happens — that’s decided by UK voters on election day.

To put it bluntly; ‘Policy and Procedure’ are decided by government while ‘Direction’ and ‘Empowerment’ are decided by voters.

For some inexplicable reason, these lines have been blurred in the UK to the detriment of democracy writ large.

As to how Britons view Parliament’s handling of Brexit, the same poll referenced above found British MP’s lacking; “The poll found 89 per cent of people said “all of Parliament” were to blame over the lack of progress in Brexit.”

Take note Parliamentarians! That’s a memo from YOUR EMPLOYERS — the UK people.