2019-04-02 20:21:25

THIS CONTENT WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MY OLD SITE AND FORMS PART OF THIS SITE’S ARCHIVE

There is ONLY one way of settling Brexit democratically and that is a preferential referendum of 3 or more options, my belief is three options are the minimum:

1. Theresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement (Parliament might not like it, perhaps the People do)
2. No Deal (Parliament might not like it, perhaps the People do)
3. Withdraw Article 50 – Parliament might not like it, perhaps in hindsight the People do? For those who don’t know, there are essentially three ways to vote in a Preferential system: X or 1 next to your preferred choice. And essentially say No to the other options.

1, 2, 3 next to the three choices available according to your preference. If for example, you prefer No Deal, you would place 1 in the box next to this option but COULD accept May’s Withdrawal Deal then you can put a 2 in the box next to this, you can of course not vote for a 3rd option, however by putting a 3 in that box you say two things:

• A – I’m keeping this option out of the count for as long as possible and
• B – I really don’t like this option.
• And C – the third way is to spoil your paper.

Now I think three is the minimum but I don’t believe any other options should be included, other than perhaps a fourth “None of the Above” option should be included.

There are two reasons for not including more options – in this case, there is no way Brexit supporters can say we’re diluting the Brexit vs. Remain camp.

I believe there are many former Remain voters who might vote for May’s deal, and the second reason is that any more than four will actually create more division than unity.

Here’s a final point that I would recommend; this should not be a preferential vote where first preference wins automatically, but the preference with the most 1st choice and 2nd choices combined should win. Why?

Because that means whilst it may not be your preferred choice, it is acceptable to you as a voter, and therefore we can get a majority of the country behind a particular Brexit option.

This admittedly is an ever so slight twist on the normal preferential system, but for these unique circumstances I believe, truly, the most democratic and sensible way forward.

Why will this never get put to the people, because some people will claim it’s too complicated, which in my opinion insinuates that the people of the UK are dumb, I don’t believe that at all.

It also gives you the right to confirm your 2016 vote and to actually have an option rather than three words “Leave the EU” – which tells no one in any concrete way how you wish to leave.

Of course, if May’s deal is not the one parliament comes close to agreeing it should be the one parliament passes as an option, but I don’t believe the British people should not have a confirmatory say on the options now they are known.

And as a remainer, if Brexit in whatever form is the biggest winner, then I believe we need to accept that.

But if not, we need talk about how we bring healing back into our political discourse.