March 19, 2024

I will Listen to you Only if I Share your Opinion

Thanks must go to Mrs May who has made clear that ‘Brexit means Brexit’. In other words, ‘those who are whining should no longer do so’. The new Prime Minister of the country has decided, as if it needed to be confirmed, that there will be no second referendum. This, of course, has not stopped the remaining keyboard warriors of the country. ‘I guess the new PM just doesn’t care about the will of the people’ one posted onto my Facebook newsfeed this morning – I shall not patronise you by pointing out the clear contradiction. The referendum result showed a majority of people voted to leave. The latest research from YouGov showed that still a majority of people (58%) oppose holding a second referendum.

50.6% of those in the AB social group would like to see another vote be cast. This is interesting; what is it about a lot of the young middle classes that make them so entitled to speak on behalf of the majority when clearly they are not in the majority? They preach liberal values but refuse to recognise a most basic liberal principle, that of democracy. We must begin to question if those stating that we should hold a second referendum are in effect trading in core liberal values of society in exchange for something else.

Take, for instance, a disagreement between two people. On the one hand person ‘a’ states the other is wrong. In any discussion this seems to be the obvious and most beneficial process; leaving scope for an open discussion to take place. More importantly, it also leaves room for ideas to be shared, promoted or discouraged – a fundamental aspect of any free society. If, on the other hand, this person were to instead say ‘there is no possible outcome where you are right as you do not know what is best’ we are shutting down debate and therefore shutting down the expression of ideas of any form. This is an extremely dangerous tactic. Especially in this case when said to those who voted leave after being consistently marginalised by the Blairite politicians who have refused to listen to their traditional grass root support for years only for it to come back to bite them later on in the form of this referendum, and quite right too.

This closing down of discussion when you do not agree with them is also a feature of the argument of the current ‘progressive’ left. Whether it is the fact that you have to be gay in order to comment on being gay for fear of offending; or, one having to be black to comment on ethnic society etc. We can actually notice a trend of not only illiberal values, but anti-liberal values stemming from those claiming to be liberal and instead creating divisions in society rather than promoting inclusion.

People doing this, a small if not overly loud proportion of the middle class under 25s who seem to be unable to reason or debate without feigning offence, may say that they have liberal values at the core of their ideas; but they do not demonstrate those values in demanding a second referendum.

by Harry Holden

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