Terrain map of Europe cropped from CIA's Physical Map of the World, 2008. Wikicommons. Some rights reserved.I have never been a fan of the European Union or its institutional predecessors and I am unimpressed by the EU's efforts to appropriate for itself, as the USA has done, the name of the continent on which it squats (an ambition that would seem absurd had Greenland not opted out of the EU some years ago). Consequently, I have no reason to be appalled when parts of the EU fall away.
Yet, a referendum on the UK's membership was not a good idea, if only because a Brexit vote would leave Tory extremists in power (Theresa May is no moderate) and few could seriously expect the EU to negotiate a generous divorce settlement. Overall, the decision to leave the EU looks like a slow motion disaster, damaging the economy and undermining London's role as an international financial centre (perhaps not such a bad thing). Cameron and the Tory Brexiters appear to have assumed that the people could be trusted to do what each expected of them… and then, grateful for the opportunity to speak, crawl back into their hole.
Moreover, it seems odd for such an important decision to be placed in the hands of the people. Referenda have no legal or constitutional force in the UK, although the constitution is clearly open to interpretation. On most understandings, parliament – or rather, the Queen in parliament – is sovereign. This means that, while it may be politically difficult for parliament to overturn the referendum result, the decision to leave has not been made unless parliament makes it.
