Can a referendum be valid if won on lies?

"exactly the sort of people who should not be allowed to be in charge of anything." Not a booze-up in a brewery, buns in a bakery, nookie in a knocking shop . . .

Here here HildaW

Merlotgran...I'm tempted to say that you cannot have it both ways....you say you do not regret voting leave but would have abstained if you had known result.
I voted Remain, not because I had listened to anyones argument but because I felt it my duty as a member of this (UK) society that prides itself on tolerance and inclusiveness that we had to stay part of the greater European picture. For all our children's and Grandchildren's sake we have to be part of the world we live in. Being in the EU has given us far more than its costs us (yes it has cost us but you basically get what you pay for). My other reason for wanting to remain was that all those who were shouting loudest for us to leave seemed exactly the sort of people who should not be allowed to be in charge of anything.

You mean everything going their way with regards to their future employment prospects etc.

I voted Leave and I don't regret it but if I could turn the clock back I wouldn't have voted at all.

If young people think we are only worthy of a say when everything is going their way then, as my old Granny would have said,

'That's fine, dear. Have it your own way.'

Good article Varian. Good for her though for having the guts to admit she was wrong.

How many more silly people are feeling like her ?

What a silly, silly woman!

Emily Tierny, writing in the i, admits she voted Leave but says "If I could take my vote back now I would. I'm ashamed of myself and I want my country back"

www.independent.co.uk/voices/i-bregrexit-i-voted-for-brexit-and-now-i-realise-what-a-terrible-mistake-i-made-a7104181.html

nigglynellie You've summed it up - good post!!

The plan has to be worked out now. It's what the two years minimum is all about.

It is quite clear there was no plan here
I expect anyone running a campaign to have a plan before they start and not plunge us into chaos and expect those against it to sort it out!

Err....a plan....is what I expect....

Well said both Breeze and Niggly
What is all this some posters say about 'no plan'? How do you know that? The Leave campaign was not run by Cameron and Co, so any plans have to come from who is in Government. It has only been a couple of days.....what do people expect?

This question was asked on Question Time just now and as with the rest of the campaign didn't get answered properly...ended up with a discussion about the future of Scotland. I have spent as much time recently shouting 'answer the expletive question' as leave supporters have used the words 'take back control'.

Well, we have elections won on lies, so why not?

jevive keep having referenda until we give the right result

I wonder if people would have voted had they known there was no plan behind it? unbelievable admission they had no idea!

So, we have a referendum, we don't like the result, so, we we change the rules have another, maybe another, until we get the result the losers want!!!! Sounds just like Putin's Russia to me! When is democracy not democracy?, when the the losers don't like it!!! Sounds like dictatorship to me. Perhaps the uneducated and the over 65's shouldn't be allowed to vote? That should certainly get the right results every time, and sounds like cast iron democracy!!! One man one vote is what I understand that word to means, clearly people on here don't!! No democrats here, just bullies like the organisation the majority are desperate to get away from. Would this petition be up and running if the vote had gone the other way? No, suddenly the small majority would have been just fine, the will of the people, democracy at work. etc, etc! You people who. can't accept this verdict in our so called democratic country just amaze me. Will this soon apply to general elections? Wrong verdict, so run it again till you get the right one that our intellectual masters are satisfied - unbelievable.

Can we try the Irish Neverendum...and have another go??

breeze, well put....you have a decent sane head on your shoulders.....give me a few more days and hopefully I'll feel a bit more like you.

It is the closeness of the vote and the seriousness of the situation that caused me to sign the online petition. We are not used to referendums at all.

And there was me, enjoying Gnomes and stuff. If you want to take 'legal action/petitions' re 'lies during elections/referendums' good luck. Get a time machine, some good lawyers, and travel back loads of years. You'll have a lot to do. They lie. They just lie cleverly. Personally, I feel sad that the country (forgetting, but not for one moment disregarding the Irish/Scottish who have some problems coming up) has been split so closely. No matter what you voted, it's not good for anyone with such a close vote. I am guessing we're all having some 'trying not to argue but cross confrontations' with family/friends/colleagues. The arguments re 'should we have had a referendum in the first place. Should we have another vote (what happens then? another if it's still a close margin? if Brexit comes out worse?). I'm not suggesting for one moment to lie down and play dead if you believe in what you believe (the last time I looked out of the window, it was a free country). But, a democratic process has just taken place. Badly organised? Badly campaigned? Should it have happened at all? It did. This site is full of the most amazingly diverse people. Which is how it should be or we'd be like a bunch of Stepford Wives. Positive moves forward?

Without in anyway inferring the 'Leave' lot are gullible (because we are all being told not to get cross with them) but I am still wracking my brains over the idea that people actually listened and believed the stuff Farage spouted. He's been the butt of so many jokes for so long ...I just thought he was an amusing character straight out of something like 'Drop the Dead Donkey or even Spitting image.

I have signed the online petition for another referendum for various reasons.