Opinion : Will the UK ever get over the Brexit divide?

Back in 2016 the EU referendum seemed all so simple.

It was such an easy question : ‘Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European union?’. However three years on the aftermath is splitting the country down the middle.

There are now those who voted to leave, those who voted to remain and those who have changed their minds.

The Government is running around in circles as to what to do, Parliament seems to know what it doesn’t want and the people are standing on bemused at the mess that has resulted.

So where did it all go wrong?

Well, in my opinion, the problems stem from the closeness of the referendum result. It was 51.9% to leave and 48.1% to remain. While the leaves won, they did so only by 1.9% (over the 50% winning threshold) which in terms of the whole is not very much at all. In fact over the course of the intervening time more than 1.9% of the people have probably changed their minds either way.

Surely victory in the referendum should have been decided by a clear margin rather than just who gets the most votes?

In my opinion for the UK to leave the EU the threshold should have been 60% of the votes cast. That way a clear majority (60% to 40%) would be in favour of changing the status quo.

But where do things go from here?

Well, it’s a mess, a real mess and a mess that, in my opinion, has been made by the incapability and incompetence of those who have been tasked with carrying the job out.

Parliament is not certain on what should happen and the Government is running around like a headless chicken. Surely the ‘get out’ option for both is to put the final decision back to the people? After all it was the people who set the ball rolling in the first place. Unfortunately the ball was too hot to handle and everyone who picked it up has been burnt.

From what my good self can see the Government was daft to start the process in the first place and even dafter to rush ahead and carry out the result.

It’s even more amazing that some MP’s have even decided to ‘go their own way’ and ignore the way their constituents voted in the 2016 referendum. They’re not representing the people if they decide to ignore the way their electorate voted in the original referendum.

If there were to be an election now it’s highly likely that many members of parliament may lose their seats. Just as the Government forgot that they have to convince parliament it seems the MP’s have forgotten that it’s the people who elect them to parliament in the first place so if they have any sense they should be carrying out the wishes of the people when it comes to votes on Brexit.

Let’s face it, Brexit is a mess. Sometimes it’s best to walk away and hand the decision to someone else, the Government sadly doesn’t have the sense to realise.

What do you think?

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