News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on How long can a democracy maintain emergency limits and still call itself free?. Parent comment

Re:How long can a democracy maintain emergency limits and st... by dane-pgp on Friday September 03, 2021 @04:23PM (#28408936)
It's worth pointing out that the EU referendum was, legally speaking, only advisory, and therefore it was up to the politicians to decide how to interpret the result and act on it (or not).

The fact that parliament became gridlocked for years afterwards as it failed to agree a sane way forward is not a great argument for avoiding referenda and relying on the wisdom of elected representatives.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:How long can a democracy maintain emergency limits and st... by spiralx on Tuesday September 07, 2021 @08:56AM (#28444144)
Parliamentary sovereignty means that all referendums are non-binding in the UK, but most people don't know that and wouldn't accept it - they only happen rarely, always ask about big topics, and so far have always been followed. Calling for a referendum and then ignoring the outcome is a sure-fire way to lose the next election!
[ Parent | on HN ]