I constantly see in news and social media feeds the claim that the UK does not need a second Brexit referendum — a People’s Vote — because the people have already voted. They made a decision, get over it, get on with it. We shouldn’t revisit decisions over and over again until we get what the losers think is the right answer. I’m tired of … Continue reading “The people voted for Brexit, that’s the end of it”
I was privileged yesterday to take part in a discussion on CBC radio’s Ottawa Morning show with host Robyn Bresnahan and Jennifer Ditchburn, Editor in Chief of Policy Options. Jennifer had written an excellent piece about a huge, decade-long programme to renovate the Centre Block of the Canadian Parliament, something that is not being discussed but should be, because of its potential to significantly disrupt the … Continue reading Parliament Rebuilding – don’t let them seal themselves off
The other day I wrote a post-Brexit reaction which focused on the rather specialised question of how deliberative democrats ought to respond to politics in a ‘post-fact’ society. In that piece I raised but didn’t specifically respond to claims about parliamentary action and bare majorities for issues of such significance. Here’s that response. First, the issue of whether 50%+1 was the right threshold, or whether … Continue reading Brexit part 2: thresholds, representation, and ‘what next?’
Simon Burall, the Director of the think tank Involve, published a blog piece today entitled ‘Your vote isn’t important’. After I’d spluttered my outrage on twitter, Simon (a) confessed he may have overdone in the title in order to attract attention; (b) tweeted a bunch of caveats; and (c) invited me to respond. So here goes. In the UK, about 45 million people are registered to … Continue reading Your vote IS important, Simon Burall
Let me start by explaining where this piece comes from. I’m a New Zealander. I come from a small and fairly insignificant place whose nearest neighbour is much larger and much more self-assured. I’ve lived in, and become a citizen of, that neighbouring country. I really enjoy that neighbour and am about to move back there. But I get what it feels like to be … Continue reading From a New Zealander to his dear English friends about Scotland
The David Miranda case is causing outrage for all sorts of good reasons: interference in legitimate journalism, abuse of power, excessive powers being granted in the first place, detention without advice, etc etc. Underlying all this, however, is a set of issues that is not being talked about so much: the deliberate undermining of politics as a legitimate pursuit for anyone other than professional politicians. … Continue reading Miranda and the policing of politics
John Parkinson 