SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Boris Johnson loses Parliamentary majority, faces Brexit showdown
Britain's Parliament returns from its summer recess and is facing a titanic showdown over Prime Minister Boris Johnson's plans to leave the European Union. Here's what we know:
● Johnson has lost his majority in Parliament, with the defection of Conservative Phillip Lee to the Liberal Democrats.
● The opposition, including members of Johnson's party, is seeking to pass legislation to delay Brexit.
● Johnson has said that if his foes succeed he will call early elections.
List of prime ministers of the United Kingdom by length of tenure
#54: George Canning, 119 days (1827)
#55: Boris Johnson, 40 days (Incumbent) (2019)
See also: Brexit: Tory MP defects ahead of crucial no-deal vote
How Brexit Blew Up Britain's Constitution
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Wednesday September 04 2019, @04:04PM (1 child)
> Trouble is, you don't know what 17 million leave voters really voted for any more than I do.
By this logic any vote to leave is invalid. It doesn't seem like a terribly strong argument.
> why not have another referendum
I agree. Actually, what should have happened after (even before) the Scottish referendum and Brexit referendum is the government should have sought advice on how to handle a "close" referendum result. If the referendum result is 60/40, well it is pretty clear that the 60 % wins. If it is 50/50 or 51/49, what then? Someone authoritative needs to decide something like "status quo wins but trigger another referendum in 5 years". Also "if there is a strong majority like 60/40, the majority wins and another referendum can't be triggered for 30 years" to avoid the losers just pursuing another and another referendum.
(Score: 4, Informative) by theluggage on Wednesday September 04 2019, @04:38PM
It's actually a pretty strong argument for not making irrevocable decisions affecting the next couple of generations based on a simple majority in a single referendum with a simplistic yes/no question. The result would probably fail any test of statistical significance and could have been swayed by something as stupid as the weather on polling day.
Its a strong argument for having something like a parliamentary democracy that can debate, amend and change its mind, with regular elections to hold them to account. Next time, maybe, at least get parliament to write the bill first, then hold the referendum, so there's a clear, detailed proposal to vote on. Oh, and don't let the current PM and Chancellor run the campaign, because everybody hates them (whoever they are).