Referenda
Firsty... sorry this is probably of little interest to anyone outside the UK (maybe not even to them who knows?) but it's something that agitates me, so here goes.
In a 'democracy' shouldn't the purpose of a referendum be to establish what the views of the electorate are?
I only ask as it seems to be accepted without question that our Government is entitled to manipulate (by timing, leaked stories, engineered photo ops, tax money spent on 'information' etc) the debate until they are certain of getting the response they desire before announcing the date of the poll. This regards our possible entry into the Euro at the moment (I know Yawn) but the principle seems corrupt. It seems that in this representaive democracy it was my responsibility to ensure that I accuratly reflect the views of my representative. I dont want Gov't to spend my taxes persuading me to their opinion when they've not bothered to find out in the first place.
Again...sorry I'll shut up and go away now...I feel a little better anyway.
In a 'democracy' shouldn't the purpose of a referendum be to establish what the views of the electorate are?
I only ask as it seems to be accepted without question that our Government is entitled to manipulate (by timing, leaked stories, engineered photo ops, tax money spent on 'information' etc) the debate until they are certain of getting the response they desire before announcing the date of the poll. This regards our possible entry into the Euro at the moment (I know Yawn) but the principle seems corrupt. It seems that in this representaive democracy it was my responsibility to ensure that I accuratly reflect the views of my representative. I dont want Gov't to spend my taxes persuading me to their opinion when they've not bothered to find out in the first place.
Again...sorry I'll shut up and go away now...I feel a little better anyway.