I received an invitation to click to petition MPs to reject the Brexit deal.
What happens if we try to stop it now? I couldn’t find an answer in the linked material. I was quite persuaded during Any Questions on Saturday by a panelist’s argument that although the whole thing was and is a bad deal, at this point getting it over and done with so we can get on to more important things is better than dragging it out.
Matt Kelly wrote last year,
In all likelihood, […] a majority of ordinary Britons would vote for Remain if a second referendum were to be held today. So, should there be a second vote, once the terms of the negotiated Brexit are known? Six months ago, I thought a second referendum a good idea. Today I don’t. There isn’t time, and making that kind of a decision isn’t the public’s job. It never was.
but then he seems to be saying recently that our politicians might choose to “throw the question back to the people” because they themselves aren’t willing to make that decision, and that that might be “very winnable”.
Exactly what kind of relationship we have with the EU isn’t the most important thing. We can work with it one way or another. The more important thing is how all the anger of polarized opinions divides and hurts people and diverts us from more positive and urgent pursuits.
As Polly Toynbee wrote last year,
But never try another referendum. Haven’t we learned that lesson the hard way? A crude question divides a nation, driven by emotions not on the ballot paper, paralysing politics for years to come. If your confirmation bias draws your eyes only to stories that tell you the tide is turning, cast your eyes occasionally at how Murdoch, the Mail and the Telegraph still ply their venom. They would still be there, poisoning the air, in a second referendum.