Having enjoyed the status of immigrant/emigrant – depending on which side of the North Sea you view it from – for much more than 15 years, I was not allowed a vote in the Brexit referendum. Therefore, I have not had the privilege of seeing an actual ballot paper. Can anyone tell me just how the question was worded?
I imagined a simple yes/no type of question, along the lines of ‘Should the UK remain a member of the EU?’ Answer YES or NO.
When the whole democratic process of the referendum had ended the answer was a very democratically decided “ NO, the UK should not remain in the EU”. I, bless my naivety, expected the NO voters to be delighted and the YES voters to be disappointed. I, bless my naivety again, expected the British to accept the decision with good grace and let the government - who are not only paid to do so but also democratically elected to do so – get the business done. Oh, silly me.
The NO voters are still whining. Why? You won, for heaven’s sake! As far as I know you weren’t asked in the referendum HOW the exit should take place or WHEN it should take place. However, you have had your chance to say WHO should get the job done. Britain, being the democracy that it is, has a democratically elected parliament and government. It was elected by both the No and the YES voters. That parliament includes an opposition and the government is only as effective as that opposition allows it to be.
That’s the great thing about democracy – EVERYBODY gets to have their say. The sad side of democracy is that you can’t please everybody.
Stop getting your knickers in a twist over what’s to be. The quality of good, substantial British knicker –elastic being what it is means you’ll probably strangle yourself in the process.
I feel a song coming on:
Que será será whatever will be will be, the future’s not ours to see, que será será
Eggy, should we start a choir?