Comments on: A. C. Grayling writes to 650 MPs urging them not to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty

By: Daphne Caruana Galizia

Daphne Caruana Galizia — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 08:07:00 +0000

You are wrong. Democracy is not majority rule, but involves duty of care for minorities. That is exactly why the democratic world is so concerned at what is happening in Turkey.

By: Daphne Caruana Galizia

Daphne Caruana Galizia — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 21:13:00 +0000

No, I’m sorry, but I don’t understand you. I have real, actual problems with convoluted thinking and language.

By: Daphne Caruana Galizia

Daphne Caruana Galizia — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 07:16:00 +0000

I still can’t understand you, I’m sorry. You show considerable confusion about what “happens around the world”.

Britain, for instance, uses the first past the post system – but here’s the thing. Parties put just ONE candidate on their ticket for each constituency, so you don’t get to select from a list of candidates for the Conservative Party, another list for the Labour Party and so on. When you go to the polling booth, you get to choose between the Labour candidate, the UKIP candidate, the Liberal candidate, the Conservative candidate, and that’s it.

By: Tabatha_White

Tabatha_White — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 06:37:00 +0000

It is though, a situation without precedent. I agree that all actions have consequences but if the actions lacked foresight, should it mean that the precedent to be set continues along the same lines of lack of foresight?

What happens if Article 50 is never invoked?

It’s not just A. C. Grayling – Philosophers may have the metacoginitive distancing that permits a clear view of what is otherwise a muddle, and remains such in discussing the various arguments from too close a perspective – there are also businesses in the UK that are joining up and that have formally requested Mishon Reya (the strong legal firm) to take their Government to court over Brexit and its potential very real consequences.

By: Liberal

Liberal — Sun, 03 Jul 2016 19:04:00 +0000

“However, to ignore the result of a referendum that was promised and organised by a democratically elected government, even if non-binding, is a pretty serious matter and could bring about a major political crisis”.

Brexit has already brought about a bigger crisis. And things will only get worse.

One has a moral duty not to keep a promise if keeping it would cause a grave injustice.

Think about this for an example. Suppose a Prime Minister promised a referendum on whether the taxes on librarians should be a hundred times the current tax rate. Suppose the majority vote yes. Should the government keep its promise?

I think not.

By: Daphne Caruana Galizia

Daphne Caruana Galizia — Sun, 03 Jul 2016 13:09:00 +0000

No wonder I couldn’t understand you. The party with the majority of votes forms the government, but constitutional change requires the vote if two-thirds of parliament, NOT a simple majority.

By: Daphne Caruana Galizia

Daphne Caruana Galizia — Sun, 03 Jul 2016 07:59:00 +0000

I haven’t understood your question.

By: Moral obligation

Moral obligation — Sun, 03 Jul 2016 07:05:00 +0000

Very good, sound advice for all British MPs in the House of Commons. Some very strong words too which, we hope, will be heeded before it is too late for the future of the younger generation.

We all appreciate the fact that a referendum cannot (and should not) be undone in order to safeguard democracy.

This, of course, should only apply if that referendum was held in good faith and that there was a good honest campaign with no ‘misinformation, distortion and false promises’.

This was not the case in the Brexit campaign. Suffice it to say that the very leaders/instigators for the ‘Leave’ campaign just walked away from the disaster in the aftermath, fully confident that there will be somebody else to clean up their mess.

This is unacceptable and creates a moral obligation on all British MPs to set things right.

This referendum was not an election. If the British exit the EU it will be forever. It cannot be undone.

By: Daphne Caruana Galizia

Daphne Caruana Galizia — Sat, 02 Jul 2016 23:15:00 +0000

Malta joined the European Union because of the general election outcome of 2004, and not because of the preceding referendum. The mandate for the Nationalist Party’s electoral programme superseded the referendum result.