The Spinoff | 29 June 2016
The political elites foisted a new system on ordinary Brits. Little wonder they’re grabbing it back
The Brexit vote is entirely understandable. In Britain and across western democracies, some sense of democratic renewal is needed to avoid alienation, writes former NZ prime minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer
Brexit resulted in my view from a break down in accountabilities. It is entirely understandable.
Having spent most of February in the UK when the whole campaign for the referendum got under way in earnest I was not surprised, although I thought that Remain may win narrowly. My point is essentially constitutional. There has been created by the EU a democratic deficit.
The whole thing began with the European Coal and Steel Community after the World War Two. This progressed in time to the Common Market, known as the European Economic Community, and then the European Union. I think after the Lisbon Treaty things began to become very difficult to manage. It started out small and progressed to 28 nations.
There are inherent difficulties with super-national organisations of this type. Who is in charge?
