We must stop using referendums

Before I begin, I didn't get a vote in the EU referendum, but I would have voted remain. However I am very eurosceptic, and did originally support leaving the Eu.

The usage of referenda in the UK has been calamitous. Referenda are supposed to settle an issue:

In Scotland : the referendum was won by remain with 55% of the vote. But that didn't stop the losing side from a breakthrough in the Scottish elections and in the General Election, and a second referendum being on the cards. Society in Scotland is particularly polarised now, with the Tories now presenting a 'Hard-Line' approach in the Scottish Parliament and Independence consistently being on the agenda. Clearly, the referendum has not settled the issue for a generation as planned.

Over the EU referendum, there have been calls for second referendums and independence referendums from areas that voted to remain. The scale of winning was less than 2% - Farage himself noted that a win of only 2% for remain would not settle the issue, so surely it is the same with 48% voting to remain? Even if you disagree, I think it is surely the case that the country after the vote is awfully more divided, and people are changing their minds over the result like wildfire, either by regretting not to vote or regretting that they voted for a particular side.

I think therefore we should focus more on representative democracy rather than direct democracy if you are someone who wants to maximise unity within the country. Although I think Cameron has been a decent leader, he has been far too reliant on referendums to sort out important issues, and although his Parliamentary majority is low (so his position was always weak), it should have been avoided at all costs.


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