British Parliament has rejected a petition calling for a re-run of the Brexit referendum, and both Prime Ministerial candidates have insisted that Brexit will go ahead. Whilst some Remain supports are dismayed, I believe this is the only right decision, and I congratulate Theresa May in particular for sticking to the right decision, despite her personal support for Remain.
The principle is that, once a referendum is run, governments ought to abide by the result, and without unnecessary delay. Anything less would be insulting to the idea of democracy. Whilst Remain supporters are welcome to continue to build their case for a future referendum to rejoin the EU one day, the referendum that has come to pass must be put into practice. Some Remain supporters cite the low turnout and the close margin as reasons for a re-run, however, as everyone is free to turn up or not, and the UK has never had compulsory voting, these are clearly not valid reasons to challenge the result.
Remain supporters may believe they should try anything to save their cause, but if they do so, it would legitimise similar attempts by other groups regarding other causes, even in other countries. Already, in Australia, some conservative MPs have signalled ways they may choose not to respect the national results of the upcoming marriage equality plebiscite. Any attempt in the UK to circumvent the Brexit vote would certainly embolden these people.
Governments finding ways to ignore results of popular votes have dangerous precedent setting consequences, and should not be ever attempted.
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