It’s not undemocratic to challenge Brexit

Jon Danzig | 20 September 2016

There is nothing else like it on the internet: the unique and growing portfolio of over 300 graphics and articles continuing to present the case every day for Britain to remain in the EU.

I started the Reasons2Remain Facebook Community Campaign on Monday 4 April 2016. With a small team of supporters, for the following 11 weeks, we put forward clear-cut evidence-based facts, arguments and heart-felt opinions on why Britain’s future would be better and brighter staying in the EU.

Of course, it wasn’t enough.

We lost the Referendum, and woke up early on Friday morning of 24 June dismayed and distraught. Brexit had won.

But we haven’t given up.

Today, we continue to present the compelling case for Britain to remain in the EU. We sincerely hope that there may be opportunities in the future for Britain to reconsider the Brexit decision.

Some have called this ‘undemocratic’. On the contrary, it would be undemocratic if the Referendum result meant that over 16 million people who voted for ‘Remain’ simply had to give-up their beliefs and principles.

No. Democracy doesn’t end with one vote. Anything democracy decides, democracy can also undecide if enough people so desire. That’s called ‘democracy in progress’. If that wasn’t the case, nobody would ever have the chance to change their minds.

Yes, we accept the Referendum returned a slim majority for Brexit. But we’re concerned that the campaign for ‘Leave’ made promises that can never be fulfilled.

In time, we believe that the electorate will increasingly realise that they were conned, and that Brexit will be a tragedy for Britain that we should do our very best to avoid.

How could we reconsider Brexit? Only by legitimate, democratic means.

We look to Parliament to carefully assess the Referendum result, bearing in mind that it was only ever meant to be an advisory exercise; that only a very slim majority voted for ‘Leave’, and that the electorate was grotesquely misinformed during the Referendum campaign about the benefits of Brexit.

We hope and push for another Referendum to vote on what type of Brexit we’re going to get, and whether on reflection, it’s what we really want.

And we hope that, whether there’s a General Election as scheduled in May 2020 or sooner, opposition parties will offer us a credible alternative to Brexit, and that the electorate will positively decide that Britain’s future remains in Union with our European allies, rather than snubbing them and ‘going it alone’.

None of our hopes, beliefs and actions can be described as ‘undemocratic’.

Democracy is about persuading others to the merits of one’s beliefs. We sincerely believe that Britain’s future is better served as a modern, prosperous, cosmopolitan member nation of the European Union, playing a full and active part in the running and future direction of our continent.

With other pro-Remain groups, political parties and individuals, using the legitimate power and provisions of democracy, we hope to persuade the nation that Britain should reject Brexit and remain in the EU.

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