The case for a second Brexit referendum

Between shows at the Edinburgh fringe I find myself addressing a rally supporting a People’s Vote on the final Brexit deal. I have some sympathy for Theresa May — she keeps going to Switzerland, Dignitas keeps sending her back — but her white paper published this summer is in effect the second draft of a Brexit manifesto (the first being her Lancaster House speech in January 2017, snubbed at the subsequent election). It is therefore the first time in my experience that the manifesto has turned up more than two years after the vote. Time for another, then.

People may object this is a betrayal of democracy. I believe it would be an affirmation of informed democracy. There can be no doubt that we are better informed and more aware of the issues than we were in 2016. Jacob Rees-Mogg himself said a second referendum after the negotiations would make sense (though I suspect JRM is Sacha Baron Cohen’s most satirical character yet).