| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:The Will of the People and Brexit | |
| Posted by: | Andy Jones | |
| Date/Time: | 28/06/18 10:42:00 |
| Vlod claims that both sides were clear at the time of the referendum that leaving the EU necessarily meant leaving the Single Market and the Customs Union. This claim doesn't really stand up to the most cursory inspection. While it is true to say that the information issued by the Government about the referendum did say that leaving the EU would mean that we would also leave the single market this was not generally emphasised by the Remain campaign. On the Leave side some prominent campaigners such as Nigel Farage and Daniel Hannan are on record as saying that it would be entirely possible to leave the EU and remain in the single market. If you look at the wording of what was on the referendum ballot forms no mention is made of the single market or customs union - it simply says should we remain in the EU or leave. It is certain that a meaningful proportion of people who voted Leave did so on the basis that they wished to leave the EU but wanted to stay in the single market. The Norway option was widely discussed at the time of the Referendum. The inescapable fact is that virtually nobody, even those proposing leaving, had anything but a superficial understanding of the potential implications. The Irish border issues was barely mentioned at the time and a host of other challenges have arisen which were never anticipated. Personally although on occasion my job brings me into contact with EU bureaucracy I really wouldn't have been able to tell you the difference between the single market and the customs union or the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights. This probably will be the same for the vast majority of the population, some of whom are currently government ministers. Therefore the idea that the British population made an informed decision and gave a clear message about leaving these institutions is transparently false. |