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The Referendum:
Is Parliamentary Democracy Important?
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The primary interest of this website is energy, not the coming referendum, but EU energy (and other) policies have an enormous effect on those of the UK.


We have been subjected to a lot of propaganda during the referendum campaign, from both sides.


The Remain campaign has been focusing on 'the weight of expert opinion', 'leading international think tanks' and other Establishment figures, who all warn us of the dangers of making a different decision from that of the experts.


In effect, the Remain campaign has been saying "These people know better than you".


In a sense they are right. The Governor of the Bank of England knows more about interest rates than you or me. The president of the CBI knows more about industry. We all need experts and should be aware of their expertise.


But this misses the point. Parliamentary democracy is based on the idea that the choice of who governs is not a matter to be decided by experts, but by the people governed.


Experts, when they nearly all agree - as with the Munich Agreement, the Euro, and now a Remain vote - are likely to be wrong because they confuse their own interests with the general good.


In Britain, the franchise gradually spread from a couple of hundred thousand property owners to the entire adult population. The people chose their lawmakers and sent them to Parliament. From those chosen, a government was formed. When the people grew tired of those they had put in, they got rid of them and elected others. The classic example was in 1945 when the people voted out their war hero, Winston Churchill. This was an assertion of the popular will which only parliamentary democracy can sustain.


The EU was deliberately constructed to frustrate that will. Its government is not formed from a parliament or even by a vote. Its rulers cannot be removed by electors. Its legislation is initiated by officials. Its court of law, in Luxembourg, overrides that of any democracy.


The choice in the EU referendum is therefore a simple one. If you believe in Parliamentary democracy you vote 'Leave'. If you believe in some other system, you vote 'Remain'.


Before you cast your vote, let me add one final thought .... is there any reason to believe that if we vote to be run by a distant oligarchy, we will thrive?





Here is a VOTE LEAVE poster which you may find useful; print it off and give copies to your friends - Ed.)



habitat21
( with acknowledgements to an article in the DT by Charles Moore, 18 Jun 16.)

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