Why we need a second referendum – on the EEA

Roger Scruton once observed, in his astute way, how important national feeling was to democracy:

‘Democracy is a form of government that depends upon a national, rather than a credal or tribal idea of loyalty. In a nation state the things that divide neighbours from each other – family, tribe and religion – are deliberately privatised, made inessential to the shared identity, and placed well below the country and its well-being on the list of public duties. It is this, rather than any Enlightenment idea of citizenship, that enabled nation states so easily to adopt democracy. In a place where tribal or religious loyalties take precedence, democratic elections, if they occur at all, occur only once.’

I thought of these words as I saw the footage of the increasingly vociferous protests being held by Remainers this week in London. 

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Ross Clark

Britain is living beyond its means

Whether it was meant to be or not, this referendum was in