Ok some back to basics questions here from me. I know much of this is likely covered in the other massive Brexit thread, but that’s so big and unwieldy I can’t find what I want to know easily:

Why do seemingly everyone, across all parties & the political spectrum (including the media), doggedly hang on to the phrase “it’s the will of the people”, when only 37% of eligible voters actually voted to leave?

I understand that 37% is a significant number, but so is 34% (remain voters). What I’m getting at is that it appears that our collective futures for a number of generations to come is being decided upon by 17.5 million people out of 46.9 million voters…

To keep saying “it’s the will of the people” whilst ignoring the wishes, concerns, fears, hopes etc. of 66% of eligible voters seems bizarre.

This is especially odd when we now know that much of the information everyone was told in 2016 (from all sides of the argument) is at best flawed but at worst downright false.

Also, why aren’t the political parties trying to engage with the non voters? Nobody seems to be asking the 12.9 million people who did not vote why they didn’t. That’s about 28% of total eligible voters. Seemingly the way politicians have interpreted this is that those who didn’t vote didn’t care so aren’t worth engaging with. I think this is an inherently flawed method. It could just as safely be interpreted as they either didn’t care or were happy with the way things were. You could also suggest people didn’t see the significance of the vote… either way, it seems that politicians are forgetting 12.9 million people and then ignoring 16.1 million other people.

Surely on something as significant as this there should have been a stipulated minimum (or even obligatory) turn out for the result to be binding.

Which sort of leads me on to my next question:

Since when has an elected official been able to get away with, or get out of the responsibility of doing what they’re paid to do? That is, we elect this shower to make tough decisions for us, not avoid them. Their only job is to look after the welfare of the country (including all residents therein). How have they been able to avoid making responsible & accountable decisions? Why didn’t somebody say no Dave, you’re paid to make decisions for the good of all of the people & not just to appease a minority of your party voters. Oh, and how Cana ytjing ao complex be reduced to Yes or No?

It’s bizarre, I don’t ever remember anyone asking for this referendum prior to UKIP taking some of the traditional conservative voters.

So my final question is:

What the **** are we doing?

I mean, why do so many people want to leave the EU? I’m guessing that decades of lazy government here in the UK, where every failing was either the fault of the opposition/previous government or those crazy EU rules the Daily Mail are so fond of scaring folk with has been a massive influence. But really, as far as I can tell nobody has presented a pros vs cons of leaving and remaining.

What does leaving give us? How do we benefit? Can anyone explain in simple terms how or why 17 million people think we will be better off leaving than remaining?

I think I’m fairly typical of the majority of the UK public. I’m employed not self-employed, I’m not a businessman, I don’t own numerous properties, I don’t have property abroad, I have no real savings and pretty much spend everything I have on a monthly basis. Due to pay freeze and then
below inflation wage reviews I’m poorer now than I was in 2010, so what will leaving give me? What will leaving give my kids & their kids?

A big fat nothing.

We’ve got a 1,500+ page thread that’s been unable to answer your questions.

I doubt you’ll get the answers in a separate thread

For what it’s worth, I think you’ve summed it up very well and the ‘Big fat nothing’ answer is spot on. It’s the biggest con in history.

That thread just seems to be an argument with a bit of decent stuff chucked in along the way.

I guess I’m just hoping Somebody can give me a nutshell version. Kinda like the Readers Digest version.

In short, this is the flaw of referendums. It’s also the problem with asking the people specific questions about what they want. Last thing you do is ask the public!

General and local elections are better in that the public doesn’t really have a clue but will vote for people or parties that seem to match their opinions. The elected representatives then make decisions based on what they believe is best for those they represent (yeah, I know, self interested useless bunch etc, but that’s the principle at least), and with far more knowledge of the politics and law, or at least have access to those who do.

Anyway, the problem now is the obsession with delivering the will of the people rather than doing what’s best for the country. I don’t mind if we still do Brexit regardless of the way I voted, but not at any cost.

Put in an emergency all party government just for Brexit to resolve it or put it on the back burner, and maybe current government can just concentrate on the real issues the country faces. Brexit is an ideal but really isn’t important at the moment.

What does leaving give us? How do we benefit? Can anyone explain in simple terms how or why 17 million people think we will be better off leaving than remaining?

This has been asked many times in the big brexit thread and answers are in short supply. It boils down to what each person sees as a benefit (less EU rules, less immigration, new trade deals with other countries, more sovereignty etc,.)

How much you think these things are actually a problem and whether they are worth leaving the EU for (and whether it would solve any of them) is up to each person.

It is demoncracy (Parliamentary democracy whatever) people voted, good or bad, that is how it works.

This is just a duplicate thread sorry.

https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/eu-referendum-are-you-in-or-out/page/1528/#post-10510295

Your question has been picked up here (direct link to the post so you don’t have to wade through the epic thread):

https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/eu-referendum-are-you-in-or-out/page/1528/#post-10510437