Opinion polls certainly show a small but clear majority for remain, and disappointment among Brexit voters too over issues including the fact that the NHS will not benefit from that promised £350m a week. But there needs to be a decent interval between the original and any new referendum. The general election massively qualified the plebiscite result. The British Election Study’s survey of 30,000 voters showed more than a third switching to vote Labour in protest at Theresa May’s initial choice of a Ukip-style hard Brexit and the way she refused to reach out to the 48% of voters who were not persuaded by the propaganda of the leave camp. [...]
In February 2014, Swiss voters decided to back EU immigration quotas. Their leaders bided their time and let the consequences of such a move sink in. More than a quarter of the Swiss population is foreign born, mainly from EU member states. The Swiss economy would collapse without access to European workers. Gradually a consensus emerged in the Swiss parliament to find a way of managing immigration with internal labour market controls that avoided direct discrimination against EU workers. This was acceptable to the European commission, and the status quo prior to the referendum was restored.
If the Swiss, with their quasi-religious belief in direct democracy, can allow their parliament quietly to sideline a populist vote so clearly against the national interest, at some stage the House of Commons can move away from the current veneration of a referendum result based mainly on lies as the final word on Britain’s relations with the EU27.
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