The Reaction to Brexit is the Reason Brexit Happened

[branford]

18. No one was complaining about referanda

when the Scots were seeking independence...

It's not that referenda are so much a problem, rather it is the regularity in which the common folk vote the "wrong" way and don't obey the wishes of their betters among the political, academic, and very wealthy classes.

Liberals often support direct democracy as an expression of the voice of the people, particularly the marginalized, at least until they realize that everyone who disagrees with them also gets a vote (to say nothing of incidences like the UK referendum where about a third of traditional Labout voters supported Brexit).

If you only effectively support democracy when you win, you don't really believe in democracy. It reminds me of people, including a great many of my fellow liberals here and elsewhere, who claim to support free speech, and then inevitably follow it with a "but" listing all the speech they disagree with they that believe should be censored.

Hypocrisy and authoritarianism, purportedly in support of noble goals, transcends the left and right divide.