When the actual vote was as close as it was; and given around 40% didn't, wouldn't or couldn't vote? It's hard to argue any position being representative!

Moreover, Britex has long been the Tory position, so full steam ahead and stuff the will of the people!

My view is, this outcome will surely see a fracturing of the UK, with Northern Ireland opting for reunification as their way of remaining in the EU, and Scotland finally cutting any remaining ties with Fleet street? Thus placing the smart money in a place where they can have their cake and eat it too?

I have a not remarkable view, that D Trump, with a little help from his friends (da) stole the election? And now, with an apparent psychopath in power? The world is suddenly a far more dangerous place?

But that won't change much here! We'll still be burning and exporting coal as hard as we can, while making nice sounds about economic growth/recovery and holding out the traditional begging bowl for foreign capital and foreign investment?

Like you'd be forgiven for thinking, we have no other choice than sell our heritage and economic sovereignty? And if the majority of voters here don't like that outcome or the road we're on? Tough titties!

Neither of the major parties here,I believe, in the UK, or rust belt America speak for the people, but rather, multi nationals with deeper pockets than most sovereign nations!? Then they wonder why their (con artist smooth) messaging is no longer listened to?

Simply put, we've been force fed (we care) BS until we're choking on it!
Alan B.

Its tempting to suggest that the author has merely misunderstood the import of the Burkean view on the obligations owed by the parliamentarian to the constituency, but I suspect he is knowingly suborning Burke in ways Burke would reject.

Burke was saying that a parliamentarian isn't required to be the mere mouth-piece of his particular electorate, but instead to represent his electorate in the great decisions of the nation and for the nation. He wasn't saying that the constituents ought to be ignored, only that the needs of the nation should override the needs of the particular electorate in the mind on the parliamentarian.

Now it may be (almost certainly) that many or most parliamentarians opposed Brexit. But the issue last week had moved on. It was no longer the case that the question was should Britain stay or go, but rather whether the expressed views of the people as a whole should be ignored. A majority of the parliament felt (knew?) that ignoring the plebiscite was not in any way in the best interests of the nation. Hence the vote.

It was ultimately a victory for the idea that the people are the nation, although it'd be naive to think that at least some or many members of the Commons weren't motivated by the certain knowledge that a 'No' vote last week would have led to a general election and that their jobs would be in jeopardy.

The Remainers have pulled out all stops to try to subvert the views of the people. Now that they have finally lost all hope, they can go into whine mode. Expect that every reverse, every economic bad number for the next decade or three will be blamed (by the Remainers) on this decision. For the Leavers, the economic consequences were of less concern than the perception that their freedom was being withdrawn. But the Remainers won't see or give weight to this because, to them, the views of the people are inconsequential.

Alan B.

"Scotland finally cutting any remaining ties with Fleet street"

Scotland wants to cut ties with the press? Go figure. I suspect you mean Downing St? Norman Gunston famously tried to navigate London using the Monopoly board as his map. Unfortunately for Alan, neither Fleet nor Downing St are on that board so he'll have to remain clueless.

"Britex (sic) has long been the Tory position"

Clueless again. Both the past and current Tory leaders were anti-Brexit (as were a number of leaders before that term even gained currency). As was most of the previous (and current) Tory cabinet. Cameron only agreed to a plebiscite because his party was bleeding votes to UKIP and he saw it as a way to stem the flow, believing always that the people would do as they were told when push came to shove. To be sure, there was a large core group in the Conservatives who were always pro-Brexit, but it was never Tory policy.

Brexit, Trump, our republican referendum , our asylum seeker policy are all examples of the victory of the popular victory over the heads of the elite. Perhaps there's hope for Western civilisation after all.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

I'm considering opening a GoFundMe site to buy Alan a period/fullstop key for his keyboard. Every sentence of every post ends in ! or ?. I can never be sure whether he's stating a view or interminably asking questions.

Actually, come to think of it, Fleet St is on the standard Monopoly Board. Alan stands a chance.

Mhaze, I suspect you believe power still lies in parliament (the will of the people, ha,ha) and not the king making media moguls i.e., Fleet street?

Yes I probably could have expressed myself better if just to please you and your sense of good grammar!? However, I'm not here to please you or your preferred (arrogance personified) writing style?

Even so, expect a divorce between England and Scotland!?

I hope it's okay to use occassional upper case and other old fashioned stuff like a barely used semi colon? Perhaps of suppository of all wisdom, you might care to explain its proper use in right proper English? The irish say, you can't polish a turd!

And reading your play the man not the ball comments, suddenly perfectly obvious! And the only game left when as usual, you are bereft of a rational countervailing argument?

I wonder how you and your obviously over-inflated (VIP) ego can fit into the same room together?
Alan B.

"I suspect you believe power still lies in parliament (the will of the people, ha,ha) and not the king making media moguls i.e., Fleet street?"

Well given that Fleet St also opposed Brexit, you might have trouble sustaining that proposition. Let's try to follow the logic here....Scotland wants to Remain, Fleet St wants to Remain, Scotland wants to cut ties with Fleet St. Ummmm. There's presumably some logic in there. On the other hand perhaps Alan just doesn't want to admit he wrote Fleet St when he meant Downing St.

Oh and it now seems we have consensus that Brexit WASN'T Tory policy - that wasn't too hard, was it.

"I wonder how you and your obviously over-inflated (VIP) ego can fit into the same room together?"

I have a very big room.

You need a very big room for the monumental pile of split hairs, your playing the man creates! Scotland does not want to remain and as obvious as the nose on your face has been my constant position to anyone except cretons!

And has long been my stated position as anyone with the cognitive ability to accurately read can testify! Moreover, the Tories have forever and a day, wanted out of the EU! They just don't want to give up Scotland and her oil reserves! Otherwise, the Scots can just go visit the nearest taxidermist (!)

The symbol depicts what I truly think of you, your endless verballing and your concert hall filling ego! Mhaze.

You'll work it out, without further explanation eventually!?
You'll have a nice day now y'hear.
Alan B.

Binoy Kampfmark chose to live in a western parliamentary democracy, but he hates the idea that the majority of western electorates are beginning to oppose everything he stands for. Although exactly what policies he stands for he did not enlighten us with. His position is that politicians should simply ignore what the majority of their voters want and presumably vote for whatever "enlightened" policy he and his Socialist friends dream up.

Well, gee, Binoy. Maybe the fact that politicians were ignoring the wishes of their own core electorates wanted for too long and sucking up to you lefties and minorities was the real reason why the western world is now in revolt against their own leaders.

Now maybe Binoy thinks that World Government will Save the World, and that a United States of Europe was a step in that direction? But since Binoy is an Asian, and the Asians in Asia are not uniting to become multicultural federations of states, maybe Binoy just hopes that the stupid Euroes will simply commit social suicide through immigration so his Asian kith and kin can become the new world leaders?

Personally, I think it is the latter. The concept of hating your own people and country, and despising your own culture, seems to be limited to white European elitists. Muslim, Asian, African and South American elites are still creditably patriotic. They probably can't believe that the most privileged within the world's best and most prosperous societies hate their own as a sort of fashion statement.

The white European civilisation stands as an unwelcome and stark contrast to the obvious failings of other cultures, so the sooner the Euros dilute themselves out of existence through immigration, the better for the rest.

The spivs snd permanent insiders are bleating plaintively all along their path of retreat. Shock horror, the Cold War is threatened with collapse as Trump seeks normal relations with Russia. Gasp, rattle, shudder, nationalism is on the rise. The EU is crumbling (and what a good riddance to an outfit that was set up by Allen Dulles and the CIA as a Cold War instrument after the war). There are more shocks to come as Marine Le Pen surges in the French polls on policies of France conducting a Frexit referendum and at the same time confronting the march of Islam and cleaning up some of Europe's Moslem no go zones.

The US CIA's Grand Experiment of an EU in Europe was aimed first at frustrating resurgence of post-Nazi democracy by ensuring that government in each of the 27 component countries had to pass through a filter constructed by a bunch of foreigners to every individual one of them. This filter has become irksome (and hideously expensive) to the awakening populations of Europe, it had lost its American support and its days are done.

Few countries however are more meekly subservient to foreigners than Australia, with our ANZUS treaty which binds us to every colonial adventure the Americans pursue without even giving us the security of American military commitment to come to our aid in the event of an Indo incursion. Perhaps it is high time to commit ANZUS to the same dustbin of history that is swallowing up the EU.

Great Britain, failing EU.

Alan B said; Scotland and her oil reserves!

Hmmm, what reserves ? All but exhausted.

My first realisation that Britain was a colony of Brussels came on a
visit some ten years ago.
A county council got planning permission to build a bypass road
around a town. Then Brussels stepped in and forbid them to build it.