Wisdom of crowds
Sir: According to Matthew Parris (‘Can we trust the people?’ 12 November), I have become part of the mob. Nevertheless, I have never really thought of myself in that way. Although it may be reasonable to criticise the antics of Farage or Trump, surely it is wrong to characterise all those who voted for their causes as a mob? My motives in voting for Brexit were simple and reasonable. Many of my generation — who lived as children through the 1940s when our parents went to war to preserve our sovereignty, our justice system and control of our borders — voted to leave the EU because they saw these three vital powers slipping away into the hands of an unelected bunch of bureaucrats.
The mob which Parris describes in America are people whose livelihoods have been devastated by the globalisation of trade, which has enriched big business. Their votes were against the status quo (Hillary Clinton) and in favour of change.
Sadly it appears that Parris is joining the ranks of an elite who not only are unable to accept the will of the people, but whose detachment from their rationale leads him to think them a mob that might endanger democracy. He should think again.
Brian Thornton
Malvern, Worcestershire
Please don’t fix it
Sir: Matthew Parris’s view that the ‘procedures’ need to be reformed to avoid killing our faith in democracy is both arrogant and wrong. Brexit and the election of Donald Trump clearly strike much of the electorate as clear signs that, for once, their views did count. Whether I or anyone else agree with their views, changing the rules so the masses cannot change how nations are governed will lead them to conclude that democracy no longer works for them.
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