Brexit Referendum: A Devalued Mandate?

There is an increasingly strident debate developing over the question of a second referendum. Those who support this are accused of ignoring the democratic will of the people expressed in the first decisive referendum. But democracy is about choice not just once, but regularly. Above all the voters have the right to change their minds.

So it cannot be undemocratic to offer a second chance, once the terms of leaving are known. Because in 2016 nobody actually had a clue what leaving meant and on both sides a lot that was said in good faith was misleading.

In the case of Leave deliberate lies were told to garner support and it now appears not all was quite right about the way the two campaigns were financed and one is now being investigated by the SCA. This throws into question the legitimacy of the so called mandate to leave. Even if no charges are bought we are left with one unchallengeable fact. A minority voted to leave the EU no matter what the cost, but they alone could not ever carry the day. They were in 2016 supported by substantial numbers who believed they would be better off. Whether it is the catastrophe of a no deal Brexit, or a soft one, everybody now can see that in no circumstances can people be better off and very many, perhaps the most vulnerable among them will be worse off.

That alone invalidates the earlier mandate. It makes a second vote where all the conditions, upsides and downsides are known and made clear, mandatory.  In a true democracy.