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The brexit fiasco demonstrates clearly why referenda are amongst the worst possible implements in the toolbox of modern democracy - particularly when the question is phrased in such simplistic terms that every 'leave' vote probably had an unspoken condition attached to it which the voter could not express - and thus allowed the political leaders of the brexit movement to put their spin on the vote and claim that they know why the 'leave' voters voted as they did and what they are seeking to achieve is 'the will of the people'.

It's because the voters in the referendum couldn't say 'yes, but only if .....' or 'no, if the consequences are .....' that it would have been far better to have left the decision to parliament, where the matter could have been debated at length and all the potential consequential issues addressed - even if members were given a free vote to enable them to reflect what they had ascertained to be their constituents' wishes.

Either the UK should dissolve parliament, and leave 'the people' to decide everything by way of daily online referenda, or allow the parliamentarians to do the job for which we elect and pay them! The latter approach often is far from perfect. The former approach generally is a recipe for disaster!

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