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Brexit: Sir John Major says 'perfectly credible' case for second referendum John Major: case for second Brexit referendum is credible
(about 4 hours later)
Sir John Major has declared there is a “perfectly credible” case for a second referendum on Brexit and people who voted to remain should not be subject to the “tyranny of the majority”. Sir John Major has become the second former prime minister within 24 hours to question the Brexit process, saying in a speech that there is a “perfectly credible” case for a second referendum on leaving the EU.
The former prime minister said the views of Remain voters should be heard in the debate about how Britain will leave the European Union. Speaking shortly after Tony Blair argued in an interview that Brexit could be reversed if the public changed its mind, Major said that the 48% of voters who wanted to remain should not be subject to the “tyranny of the majority”.
The ex-Conservative leader told guests at a private dinner that the 48% of people who voted to stay in the European Union should have their say on the terms of the deal for breaking away from Brussels. The former Conservative prime minister said at a private dinner that the opinions of remain voters should also be heard in the debate about how Britain will leave the European Union, the Times reported.
Major said he accepted the UK would not remain a full member of the EU but hoped the Brexit deal would enable the country to stay as close as possible to the other 27 members and the single market, the Times reported. In his first intervention over the issue since the 23 June referendum, Major said he accepted the UK would not remain a full member of the EU, but hoped any Brexit deal would mean the UK would remain as close as possible to EU members and the single market.
Parliament, not the government, should make the final decision on any new deal with the remaining members of the EU and there was a “perfectly credible case” for a second referendum. Major also said that whatever happened with Brexit, he could not accept that the small minority of voters who opted for remain should have no input on the terms of Brexit.
“I hear the argument that the 48% of people who voted to stay should have no say in what happens,” he said. “I hear the argument that the 48% of people who voted to stay should have no say in what happens,” he said. “I find that very difficult to accept. The tyranny of the majority has never applied in a democracy and it should not apply in this particular democracy.”
“I find that very difficult to accept. The tyranny of the majority has never applied in a democracy and it should not apply in this particular democracy.” Major argued that it must be parliament, not the government, that made the final decision on any new deal with the EU. There was a “perfectly credible case” for a second referendum, he added.
Major, in a speech and Q&A to mark the 100th anniversary of David Lloyd George becoming prime minister, hailed the single market as “the richest market mankind has ever seen” in his first intervention in the Brexit debate since the 23 June vote. Major was addressing a dinner and question-and-answer session commemorating the 100th anniversary of David Lloyd George becoming prime minister. In his comments he also hailed the EU’s single market as “the richest market mankind has ever seen”.
The former prime minister’s time in No 10 was marked by a series of bruising battles with his own MPs over Europe and his comments are likely to cause fresh anger among Eurosceptic Tories. Earlier on the same day the New Statesman published Blair’s comments about the possibility of Brexit being halted.
His comments come after his successor in Downing Street, Tony Blair, suggested the Brexit process could be halted. In an interview to mark his return to commenting on political matters, Blair said he was not predicting Brexit would not happen, only that there was a possibility it would not. “It can be stopped if the British people decide that, having seen what it means, the pain-gain, cost-benefit analysis doesn’t stack up,” he said.
The former Labour leader told the New Statesman: “It can be stopped if the British people decide that, having seen what it means, the pain gain cost-benefit analysis doesn’t stack up.” Such a turnaround could arise in one of two ways, both of them hinging on negotiations over access to the EU’s single market, Blair said.
With the Press Association “Either you get maximum access to the single market, in which case you’ll end up accepting a significant number of the rules on immigration, on payment into the budget, on the European court’s jurisdiction. People may then say, ‘Well, hang on, why are we leaving then?’
“Or alternatively, you’ll be out of the single market and the economic pain may be very great because, beyond doubt, if you do that you’ll have years, maybe a decade, of economic restructuring.”
The Liberal Democrat leader, Tim Farron, said: “When a former Conservative prime minister publicly comes out in support of a Lib Dem policy, it shows we are the only sensible party on Brexit.
“The British people voted for departure but they didn’t vote for a destination, and they certainly didn’t vote to make the nation poorer and risk jobs. The haphazard way May’s cabinet are handling Brexit makes the case for a referendum on the deal stronger each day, and we’re glad to have growing cross-party support for this campaign.”
Like Blair, Major was also notably more pro-EU than many other MPs in his party. The former Tory prime minister’s time in office was marked by persistent battles with his backbenchers over Europe.
The peak of the disruption came in 1995 when Major stood for re-election as Conservative leader against the leading Eurosceptic John Redwood in an attempt to regain his authority on Europe.
Major’s comments are likely to enrage some of his former foes, such as Redwood, who are still in parliament.