YP Letters: Will of the British people over Brexit vote must be obeyed

Politicians must honour the will of the British people, argues Sergi Singh. Credit: Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA Wire

THERE have been many calls within your letters pages for the referendum to be re-run because a minority did not like the result; the mere fact that well over a million more voted to leave the EU than remain apparently means nothing to them.

The fact that the referendum was not a minor matter or glorified opinion poll but an Act of Parliament backed by a 6 to 1 majority of MPs seems not to have registered with the ‘Remainers’.

The fact that the Conservative Party’s manifesto makes clear that it is a ‘one time only deal’ and “we will honour the result” seems to mean nothing either to those who rebel against democracy both in, and out, of the Houses of Commons and Lords.

The fact is that, whatever happens over the referendum, there will be a general election in 2020 at the latest and woe betide the MP, and indeed party, who decides to ignore the 17 million plus voters who want to leave the EU by voting to overturn the result.

Ukip, the one party which will get us out of the European Union, is ready to Hoover up those votes, which amount to five million more than voted Tory in 2015.

The whole thing boils down to one simple question: is the UK a democracy run by the people, or is it a parliamentary dictatorship which ignores the will and opinions of the majority for their own selfish ends, as many MPs seem to think?

In other words, have the Houses of Parliament become so tainted by the way Brussels does business that they no longer recall how it is done in the UK, via a simple majority rule verdict?

The referendum question, which I’m sure 17 million of us thought was resolved on June 23, will be an interesting test case.

However, MPs must understand that the people are in no mood to be ignored over Brexit, especially as the country is already beginning life on the road to recovery away from the EU and we don’t want to see that progress overturned for no good reason.

I would respectfully suggest to Theresa May that she should stop procrastinating over Article 50 and trigger it this year.

What is she waiting for, given that she has a legal mandate over the EU, arguably the first any European Union leader has ever been given by their electorate?