BREXIT REFERENDUM, DID THE MASSES MAKE INFORMED DECISION?

In 2016, 23^rd June the Brexit referendum, commonly known as the UK- EU membership referendum happened in Gibraltar and UK for assessing the desire of the masses- whether they wanted to remain united with EU or depart from them as per the EU referendum act of 2015. Though the referendum was legally invalid, the ruling government had pledged to execute the results, which began the formal departure process of EU on the 29^thof March, 2017, which also meant the UK are slated to exit from EU prior midnight of 29^th March, 2019 after the expiry of the Brexit negotiations (Clarke, Goodwin & Whiteley, 2017).

The Brexit referendum vote was transparent, the people never desired Brexit to happen in their visible future. A clear analysis brought forth the fact that UK wanted to remain bonded with EU from the day of referendum. Among the 13 elections which occurred to search results for the only question of whether the country should support Brexit, 11 polls stated that the majority citizens of UK were against Brexit. The post referendum elections however made clear one vital fact – the number of people who voted in these polls was outnumbered by the people who denied participation in the election, this choice of the masses was based on their firm belief that the nonvoting citizens will win(Clarke, Goodwin & Whiteley, 2017). The leave voters had however expressed that their decision to vote for exit was only to threaten the government and expressed desire to revote for changing their decision. Maximum number of voters opting for exit changed their decision and opted for union while the citizens who opted for unity remained firm on their decision. If the democratic rules demanded voting compulsion for every citizen (similar to Australia) the results would have been in favor of the citizens denying Brexit and desiring union from the very first day. Some of the citizens were unable to participate in the polls due to unexpected personal, professional or administrative situations. The citizens who had shunned voting were mostly the younger generation who perpetually desire union of UK and EU.The eleven public polls have clearly stated the decision of the citizens of UK- they will not part away from EU(Clarke, Goodwin & Whiteley, 2017).

In case of another referendum, there is possibility of previous non voters participating with more vigor since they are aware of the risk involved herein. Also, a large number of young voters who gained new voting rights demanded polls on Brexit in UK, the commonwealth members residing in UK could vote but the EU members residing in UK were denied voting rights; this also led to diverse polling results (Qvortrup, 2015). As the majority of voters opting for union is gradually increasing every year, ‘remain’ is still the public choice; the citizens who voted to protest against the rising poverty are now facing the inflation threats and the effects of exit of industries from UK. The majority of UK citizens believe Brexit will have adverse effect on the job culture; worsening the UK economy further. The declining economy will definitely act against the citizens voting for leave and help in merging the masses against Brexit. Brexit was never desirable by the people of UK; a more stable referendum could have amended the injustice done by excluding the young voters of 16-18 age groups and the EU residents who were non UK. If the citizens had expressed their views on the day of referendum, the outcome would have been similar to what the economists had foreseen and UK still desires--to remain bonded to EU(Qvortrup, 2015). Brexit was never desired by the people of UK and will never be accepted even by the evolving generation.

Reference:

Clarke, H. D., Goodwin, M., & Whiteley, P. (2017). Why Britain voted for Brexit: an individual-level analysis of the 2016 referendum vote. Parliamentary Affairs, 70(3), 439-464.

Qvortrup, M. (2015). Power to the people! But How? The different uses of referendums around the world. Political Studies Review, 13(1), 37-45.