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Sunday, January 13, 2019

A Letter to George F. Will


Responding to: George F. Will, Brexit Shows How Direct Democracy Can Be Dangerous, Investor’s Business Daily (Jan. 12, 2019)



@GeorgeWill asks: "But why, with its primacy at stake, did Parliament punt one of the most momentous decisions in British history to a referendum?"

Answer: Because continued membership in the EU means ceding further powers of Parliament to the EU. Those powers are entrusted to Parliament by the People. Parliament is not free to give them away to any other entity, including to EU institutions. Parliament is also conflicted in making such a choice. Recourse to the People is proper—particularly given that in 1975 that was the vehicle (i.e., a referendum) which was used to take the UK into the EEC (i.e., the predecessor of the EU). We (Americans) do much the same in the United States—when amending the U.S. Constitution we have methods to bypass both Congress and/or the state legislatures—because they might have an interest in the proposed reform.

Seth

Seth Barrett Tillman, A Letter to George F. WillNew Reform Club (Jan. 13, 2019, 10:27 AM), <https://reformclub.blogspot.com/2019/01/a-letter-to-george-f-will.html>



PS: Welcome Instapundit readers! Feel free to look around New Reform Club--my co-bloggers do good work.

PPS: If you liked this letter, see also: Seth Barrett Tillman, A Letter to Professor John McWhorter, New Reform Club (Jan. 13, 2019, 8:29 AM), <http://reformclub.blogspot.com/2019/01/a-letter-to-professor-john-mcwhorter.html>.






12 comments:

ArtH said...

Exactly. Although George is capable of understanding conservative principles, he has grown to let elitist tendencies trump them in the past few years, like twenty or so. The political elites don't understand they are addicted to the intoxicating power of power. A drunk doesn't think he's a drunk.

Anonymous said...

ArtH, well placed "trump" in your comment.

whitewall said...

I like any "club" that has as an original member Gilbert Chesterton! Bears some close following.

David Herr said...

This is all well and good, Seth, Mr. Tillman, but we are today seeing the problem with the people voting for Brexit by referendum when the Parliament is hostile to Brexit. There are enough Tory remainers to sink Brexit and the Tory government, and they are fervent enough in their EUphilia to usher in Jeremy Corbyn to 10 Downing, if that's what it takes to destroy Brexit once and for all. The Remainers' cynical calculation is that Corbyn will so destroy the UK that its people will repent of Brexit and beg the EU for help.

Lee Moore said...

1. The UK joined the EEC in 1973 without a referendum. The 1975 referendum was about whether the UK should stay in.

2. There are plenty of good arguments against referenda, including the danger that a referendum takes power away from Parliament. But the one time you can't use that particular argument is when you're arguing against a referendum on recapturing powers that Pariament has already ceded to an international organisation like the EU.

Sam L. said...

George KNOWS he's smarter than "the people".

Don Diego said...

The link to your McWhorter response does not currently work.
(You accidentally included the "tinyurl" part, rendering it unusable.)

FryingPanHead said...

I've stated other places, when Will and his buds from the media went and had dinner with obama as if he were qualified to run a nation, that was the last time I paid serious attention to the bowtied effete elite.

Art said...

George is confused by that whole 'consent of the governed' concept, isn't he?

Lee said...

> George KNOWS he's smarter than "the people".

It takes a long time to learn that "smart" is overrated. In Thomas Sowell's equation, "Intelligence minus judgment equals intellect."

George wouldn't know.

Tom Bowler said...

"Those powers are entrusted to Parliament by the people. Parliament is not free to give them away to any other entity..."

U.S. Constitution -Article 1:
"All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives."

Seems to me, there has been a degree of delegation (or abdication) of authority by Congress to regulatory agencies that ought to be challenged as unconstitutional. I don't supposes there's much chance of that ever happening.

Tom T. said...

Parliament allowed the referendum because it expected a "No" vote. In other words, the elected lost sight of the wishes and concerns of the electorate -- that's the anti-democratic concern at issue here.