LETTER: Was the referendum result advisory or binding?
We are often thinking and acting as if it was binding – Brexit is Brexit, says Mrs May – no argument.
But if, as some clever people, including AC Grayling, are saying, this referendum was advisory, then it remains up to Parliament to decide what to do with the advice.
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Hide AdParliament is not going to be sitting for quite a while. When it reconvenes, it should perhaps decide a number of things about the referendum.
Was the 50 per cent pass mark high enough to trigger such a vast change as wholesale Brexit?
Was the fairly high involvement level high enough? Was the margin of difference between leave and remain appropriate as a platform for colossal change?
Parliament made mistakes, I would say, in the setting up of the referendum, with too big and too complex a subject to be decided in this way.
They have a chance to redeem themselves when they come to review the advice – if that is what it was – we gave them.
Paul King
By email