My Take | Referendums are democracy’s Achilles’ heel
Britain’s decision to leave the European Union has lessons for Hong Kong: beware what you wish for
If Nigel Farage had talked a casual lover into bed, I wonder if he would confess the next morning: sorry darling, it would be a mistake to think I love you.
The morning after the Brexit vote, the leader of the UK Independence Party admitted it would be “a mistake” for voters to think the Leave vote would put £350 million (HK$3.7 billion) into the national health system overnight.
Now he tells them.
The latest British adventure in referendums offers many lessons for Hong Kong people and mainland Chinese. Among these are – thank God – our Chinese constitution and the Basic Law do not allow the holding of referendums. Next time a pan-democrat or a Benny Tai Yiu-ting say they want to launch a mock plebiscite, you know what to say to them.
Democracy has many strengths; the practice of referendum is not one of them. By turning extremely complex questions into a yes or a no, it treats citizens like little children, yet grants them supreme power to make momentous decisions: chocolate or vanilla; coffee or tea; Leave or Remain.