The simple answer to the question as to whether the EU referendum is legally binding is “no”. In theory, in the event of a vote to leave the EU, David Cameron, who opposes Brexit, could decide to ignore the will of the people and put the question to MPs banking on a majority deciding to remain.
This is because parliament is sovereign and referendums are generally not binding in the UK.
If Cameron ignores a vote for Brexit, perhaps a narrow one, he will have divided the country and his party on false pretences. Heads I win tails, you lose doesn't work in a democracy. The question will not even be posed if the outcome is in favour of Remain which is evidence enough of its dishonesty. It's asked only because the political and media elites are incredulous at the possibility that power can been taken from their hands by a popular vote. Any Oxford PPE grad will be able to construct what seems to the political class to be a plausible reason for the outcome to be ignored. It's what rhetoricians have done since time immemorial. Whatever the strict constitutional status of the referendum, to overturn its outcome would be a blatant usurpation that would put Cameron in the same league as the wretched Maduro. Cameron is a man whom I admittedly despise but I cannot believe that he would try to stage what would in effect be a coup without precedent in modern British politics. Even Major and Blair recognised there were limits to what they could foist on Britain in the name of Europe. To use parliament's power to overturn the referendum decision would strike a fatal blow at its legitimacy and credibility and to that of the ballot box. Even Europe isn't worth that no matter how strongly European one may be.
Just in case anyone is in a forgiving mood to stay
Cadbury moved factory to Poland 2011 with EU grant.
Ford Transit moved to Turkey 2013 with EU grant.
Jaguar Land Rover has recently agreed to build a new plant in Slovakia with EU grant, owned by Tata, the same company who have trashed our steel works and emptied the workers pension funds.
Peugeot closed its Ryton (was Rootes Group) plant and moved production to Slovakia with EU grant.
British Army's new Ajax fighting vehicles to be built in SPAIN using SWEDISH steel at the request of the EU to support jobs in Spain with EU grant, rather than Wales.
Dyson gone to Malaysia, with an EU loan. Crown Closures, Bournemouth (Was METAL BOX), gone to Poland with EU grant, once employed 1,200.
M&S manufacturing gone to far east with EU loan.
Hornby models gone. In fact all toys and models now gone from UK along with the patents all with with EU grants.
Gillette gone to eastern Europe with EU grant.
Texas Instruments Greenock gone to Germany with EU grant.
lndesit at Bodelwyddan Wales gone with EU grant.
Sekisui Alveo said production at its Merthyr Tydfil Industrial Park foam plant will relocate production to Roermond in the Netherlands, with EU funding.
Hoover Merthyr factory moved out of UK to Czech Republic and the Far East by Italian company Candy with EU backing.
ICI integration into Holland's AkzoNobel with EU bank loan and within days of the merger, several factories in the UK, were closed, eliminating 3,500 jobs
Boots sold to Italians Stefano Pessina who have based their HQ in Switzerland to avoid tax to the tune of £80 million a year, using an EU loan for the purchase.
JDS Uniphase run by two Dutch men, bought up companies in the UK with £20 million in EU 'regeneration' grants, created a pollution nightmare and just closed it all down leaving 1,200 out of work and an environmental cleanup paid for by the UK tax-payer. They also raided the pension fund and drained it dry.
UK airports are owned by a Spanish company. Scottish Power is owned by a Spanish company.
Most London buses are run by Spanish and German companies.
The Hinkley Point C nuclear power station to be built by French company EDF, part owned by the French government, using cheap Chinese steel that has catastrophically failed in other nuclear installations. Now EDF say the costs will be double or more and it will be very late even if it does come online.
Swindon was once our producer of rail locomotives and rolling stock. Not any more, it's Bombardier in Derby and due to their losses in the aviation market, that could see the end of the British railways manufacturing altogether even though Bombardier had EU grants to keep Derby going which they diverted to their lossmaking aviation side in Canada.
39% of British invention patents have been passed to foreign companies, many of them in the EU
The Mini cars that Cameron stood in front of as an example of British engineering, are built by BMW mostly in Holland and Austria. His campaign bus was made in Germany even though we have Plaxton, Optare, Bluebird, Dennis etc., in the UK. The bicycle for the Greens was made in the far east, not by Raleigh UK but then they are probably going to move to the Netherlands too as they have said recently.
Anyone who thinks the EU is good for British industry or any other business simply hasn't paid attention to what has been systematically asset-stripped from the UK.
Not detailed is our non-existent fishing industry the EU paid to destroy, nor the farmers being paid NOT to produce food they could sell for more than they get paid to do nothing, don't even go there.
Not mentioned what it costs us to be asset-stripped like this, nor mentioned immigration, nor the risk to our security if control of our armed forces is passed to Brussels or Germany.
Mon Mar 14, 2016 11:31 pm
