Brexit: UK needs to respect the true ‘will of the people’ – leader comment

Brexit has been hugely divisive and many people are thoroughly sick of it, but this is a historic step that cannot be rushed. A second referendum should be held to settle the argument about whether the British people truly do or do not want to leave the European Union.

Done deal? Boris Johnson and Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, shake hands (Picture: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)

There were many, including the Scotsman, who feared that Boris Johnson’s ultimate aim was a no-deal Brexit. So the Prime Minister should be congratulated for having the good sense to come to an agreement with the European Union and at least trying to avoid that potentially catastrophic outcome. Nigel Dodds, of Northern Ireland’s DUP, claimed Johnson had been “too eager by far to get a deal at any cost” as the party made its dissatisfaction clear, but the cost of a “no deal” is simply too much to contemplate.

However, after more than three years of seemingly interminable delays, the UK Government now wants MPs to approve the new plan on Saturday – despite the fact that it means significant changes to Northern Ireland’s relationship with the UK, with potential implications for Scotland and its position in the Union. Is the UK really going to sign up to a complex new relationship with the EU in just two days?

It may have taken far too long to get to this stage, causing considerable mental fatigue for politicians and many others in the country, but a rushed consideration of this historic step is foolish, risking unintended and damaging consequences.

Before the 2016 referendum, many Brexiteers put forward the idea of a confirmatory referendum to approve any deal with the EU. They may now oppose this idea but it makes more sense than ever, given how much more we know about what leaving the EU entails than we did three years ago. So the UK should ask for a pause to allow Johnson’s deal to be properly debated and considered and then a second referendum.

‘Not Brexit’

Are the British people prepared to accept a border – however blurry – between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a prospect that Theresa May once said was “something no British Prime Minister could ever accept”?

Some hardcore Brexiteers, like Nigel Farage, claim Johnson’s deal is “not Brexit”. Some Remainers and left-wing Brexiteers will view it as a right-wing, hard Brexit.

So it clear that there is considerable unhappiness on both sides of the debate. If Johnson and the Tory whips somehow manage to cajole, pressure and bribe, in a political rather than a financial sense, a thin majority of MPs to pass the deal, does anyone think that will settle the matter?

If the UK is to take this momentous step, it needs to do so with a degree of unity; those who disagree with what is happening need to be reassured that it is truly what the country actually wants.

Johnson’s slogan “Get Brexit done” is designed to exploit the general weariness among the public, but for the sake of the future generations whose lives will be affected by the decision we are about to take, we must not go to sleep at the last moment.

There is a risk of no-deal if MPs vote down Johnson’s plan, but both the Prime Minister and the EU have compromised to avoid it. So if the UK asks for a delay to allow a confirmatory referendum, with all options on the ballot paper, it is likely that Brussels will agree, even if reluctantly.

It is this course of action that offers the best hope of finally settling the argument with either a second Brexit vote or a decisive Remain win. A narrow Remain victory would see it continue, but we need to know what the ‘will of the people’ truly is and there is only one way to find out.