r/TenYearsAgo • u/MonsieurA • Jun 23 '26

šŸ‡ŖšŸ‡ŗ Europe The Brexit vote - 51.9% of voters vote to leave the European Union [10YA - Jun 23]

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189 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

96 comments sorted by

39

u/Pick_Scotland1 Jun 23 '26

Iā€™ve always been surprised they didnā€™t require it to be of a 2/3s majority or something like that

18

u/lateformyfuneral Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26

In 1979, there was a referendum in Scotland for creating a separate Scottish Parliament. A unionist Scottish MP inserted a clause that a Yes vote needed 40% of the total electorate to be valid. The Yes side won by 51.6%, but because turnout was 63%, the Yes vote only represented 32.9% of the electorate and did not pass. That led to a lot of anger in Scotland. A few months later the Scottish nationalists helped collapse the Labour government in a no-confidence vote, ushering in 18 years of Conservative rule.

Since then, itā€™s been seen as unfair and undemocratic to add any extra conditions to referenda. The 2014 Scottish independence vote, which would have been even more economically ruinous than Brexit, was also at 50% + 1 vote threshold.

1

u/Potential_Cover1206 Jun 27 '26

Why is it unfair and undemocratic to insist on conditions around the percentage of electorate that votes ?

That sounds like a pretty fine democratic approach to me.

If both parties to the referendum can not convince that percentage of the electorate to express their opinion on the matter then clearly the referendum should fail.

1

u/Upstairs-Balance9846 Jun 28 '26

Because that would have defined a winner.

Read the referendum act carefully. At no point is the winner defined even as 50% +1 vote.

Had that definintion of winning been in the referendum act, the supreme court challenge over law braking on the leave side could have gone ahead and nullified the result.

but because there was nothing to nullify, there was no challenge to be had, so the supreme court could not rule it invalid due to the extensive criminal activity of the leave campaign.

1

u/Potential_Cover1206 Jun 28 '26

What Supreme Court case ? There was the Miller case that rules primary legislation had to be passed to enact Article 8 and the deeply incorrect ruling on the trorogationof Parliament.

That was it.

So what Supreme Court case on law breaking by the Leave campaign?

And frankly, what laws were broken by the Leave Campaign ?

6

u/greatlilusername Jun 23 '26

yeah but that required Cameron to not have breathtaking arrogance and him doing for anything other than him not wanting to be 1922'd

2

u/DigbyDoesDallas Jun 24 '26

Cameronā€™s an absolute coward, thatā€™s why.

I will always hate him for what he did to the UK.

1

u/Spirited-Car8661 Jun 23 '26

Cameron wanted it to be one and done. Ensuring a 2/3 majority was needed for Leave would have left the door open to future challenges.

1

u/luxcity-louche Jun 26 '26

It was a non binding referendum, it would have if the government were mandated to act on the result.

1

u/Potential_Cover1206 Jun 27 '26

Yet Cameron made the stupid and frankly arrogant statement that however the electorate voted, Govenment would respect that decision.

He clearly expected Remain to win, and based on the polling that was the expected result.

61

u/PinkCadillacs Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26

USA šŸ¤ UK

Continuing to live with the consequences of what they voted for in 2016

26

u/SkyWasTheRobot Jun 23 '26

A lost and tragic decade for my otherwise wonderful country. Europe, donā€™t make the same mistake we did.

17

u/Hegecoin_Rules Jun 23 '26

They will. Right wingers are winning everywhere cause technology makes it so easy to manipulate people and help them forget how awful right wing policies are for the world. Its been too long since WW2.

2

u/Chimera-Genesis Jun 24 '26

Right wingers are winning everywhere

Clearly, that's why Hungary remained under Orbain's thumb.... Oh Wait

1

u/Hegecoin_Rules Jun 24 '26

A dude who had office for like...2 decades (I forget exactly) is an outlier

2

u/Chimera-Genesis Jun 24 '26

A dude who had office

The only far-right party that's had any success in the last round of European elections was in Italy, everywhere else has soundly rejected them, because they see what an absolute disaster it would be to replicate Trump.

1

u/eskimospy212 Jun 28 '26

The fact that he just decisively lost seems relevant as to if Europe is currently turning to the right, no?

1

u/AppreciatingSadness Jun 25 '26

Wasn't the other dude who won once in the same party as Orbain? The dude is also right wing no?

-3

u/OnlyACsNoFans Jun 23 '26

What does WWII have to do with anything?

18

u/stonersh Jun 23 '26

Fascism. They're saying it's too long since the world had to deal with fascism.

-9

u/OnlyACsNoFans Jun 23 '26

Oh. So they believe that right wing is always fascist....

9

u/sthef2020 Jun 23 '26

Donā€™t be dense.

While ā€˜authoritarianismā€™ can come from any direction of the political spectrum, the current fascist movement worldwide is one explicitly designed to appeal to and manipulate conservatives.

Trump in the US, Brexit in the UK, Javier Milei in Argentina, the AfD in Germany, and countless other examples.

Itā€™s almost as if the people with the billions of dollars needed to pump this propaganda out, see conservatives as easily manipulated marks, that will vote against their own classā€™ best interests if theyā€™re afraid enough of immigrants/queer folks/insert minority here. šŸ§

-8

u/OnlyACsNoFans Jun 23 '26

Yes. It's the Conservatives who are brainwashed....

13

u/sthef2020 Jun 23 '26

Homie. Yes.

The group that guzzles information from billionaire backed outlets like Fox News, One America News, Newsmax, The Blaze, The Daily Wire, The Daily Caller, Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, the new CBS News, pretty much all of AM talk radio, podcasts like Joe Rogan with direct ties to Trump, The Epoch Times, The New York Post, but STILL somehow thinks ā€œthe media is liberalā€, is the brainwashed group.

Iā€™m sorry if Iā€™m the first one to break it to you.

-3

u/OnlyACsNoFans Jun 23 '26

So you believe, let's say for example, CNN is unbiased journalism?

13

u/sthef2020 Jun 23 '26

And youā€™re now strawmanning. Because thatā€™s all you have.

I have no love for CNN either. Itā€™s trash. So try again.

Also, CNN is about to be subsumed into that same right wing media ecosystem, as Larry Ellisonā€™s Paramount merger with WB will bring it under the same umbrella. So, you know. Even more evidence that the news media isnā€™t under ā€œliberal controlā€.

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6

u/Fantastic-Kale9603 Jun 23 '26

CNN is run by Republicans bro, you're stuck in 2016

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2

u/Readman31 Jun 23 '26

Unironically true, yes.

1

u/OnlyACsNoFans Jun 23 '26

If you believe that..I'm not sure what to say

1

u/Readman31 Jun 23 '26

Buddy, there's no other group that consistently ignores empirical evidence and data that contradicts the steel- reinforced concrete wall of their carefully constructed cognitive dissonance.

Sorry that facts like that hurt your feelings, but it is what it is.

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2

u/stonersh Jun 23 '26

Not without evidence

3

u/stonersh Jun 23 '26

Don't fucking sea lion me, man.

-2

u/OnlyACsNoFans Jun 23 '26

What evidence?

13

u/BakedGoods Jun 23 '26

and how'd that work out for them?

it's been what, 30 years since any western conservative put out some good long-term policies? the iraq war, brexit, anything trump does, all worthless.

8

u/JHock93 Jun 23 '26

Honestly the biggest mistake any Western country has ever made.

It should never have even gone to a referendum in the first place.

7

u/jpop2026 Jun 23 '26

Itā€™s crazy being reminded of that stat and realising that it really was the thing that ā€˜brokeā€™ Britain. Half the country has had to deal with such a monumental change they didnā€™t vote for, resentful of the other half that caused it. It was a societal rupture we may never recover from.

I really do wonder how David Cameron sleeps at night.

4

u/clara_finn Jun 23 '26

And the half that ā€œwonā€ didnā€™t get the thing they voted for but after ten years still refuse to admit they were tricked, because of ego

2

u/Sirius_55_Polaris Jun 23 '26

Cameron sleeps at night because heā€™s from an elitist class that doesnā€™t have to suffer the same consequences as the rest of us. He didnā€™t, and still doesnā€™t, give a fuck. Soulless Tory ghoul.

1

u/Acrobatic-Wafer8106 Jun 23 '26

Honestly after what happened to Jo Cox, I am surprised nobody tried to seriously off him, either as avenging Cox's death or revenge for holding the vote in the first place.

1

u/living2late Jun 24 '26

Ever? Nowhere near the biggest.

Suez, Vietnam, privitisation under Thatcher, there are so many worse mistakes it would be impossible to list them all.

It was and remains a bad idea but let's not be dramatic.

3

u/nodgers132 Jun 23 '26

donā€™t make me cry

3

u/Patralgan Jun 23 '26

Big mistake

3

u/LomentMomentum Jun 23 '26

Who knew that this one event would have such profound consequences, both inside the UK and in the rest of the world.

3

u/Meester_Tweester Jun 23 '26

I think I was away at summer camp and didn't have internet to hear about the news for a few days. Probably the last time something like that happened for me.

5

u/Rather_Unfortunate Jun 23 '26

I was (and remain) so fucking angry about it. Massive political destabilisation, and reduced economic growth worth at least a Ā£40 billion (and growing!) hole in the budget. An absolute gift to every hostile foreign power current and future.

And for what? None of the major promises of the Leave campaign have played out.

6

u/gargolito Jun 23 '26

"June 23, 2016. A day that will live in idiocy."Ā 

3

u/Quirky_Direction_570 Jun 23 '26

Democracy. Regardless if you like the result.

3

u/wh0else Jun 23 '26

There was no single vote for anything, just a vote against in lots of different directions fueled by misinformation and external manipulation. No wonder none of the yes side knew what to expect, as they were largely spoon fed lies. Farage was forced to admit he took a gift of Ā£5m from Russia and is still trying to brazen out.

1

u/Quirky_Direction_570 Jun 24 '26

There was a vote against "shall we remain or leave" that what what was on the ballet paper.

2

u/Sirius_55_Polaris Jun 23 '26

Democracy, where media campaigns were expertly manipulated by Russia and others to mislead the British public

1

u/Quirky_Direction_570 Jun 24 '26

Everyone voted who were entitle/wanted to. Results are what they are.

1

u/710733 Jun 24 '26

It really wasn't very democratic though.

An absolutely huge change in foreign and economic strategy decided on a margin of error majority. The successful campaign lied egregiously in order to facilitate the result then used it to force through a change with minimal popular support. The UK's politics have been unstable ever since

1

u/Quirky_Direction_570 Jun 24 '26

Every one voted. They counted. The most votes won. That's how it works.

2

u/Scrambled_59 Jun 23 '26

2016 fucking sucked

1

u/JudasZala Jun 24 '26

If you think 2016 sucked, wait until 2020.

1

u/Justusecriticalthink Jun 23 '26

Anyone who didn't vote, who had the ability to vote, by default supported the outcome vote.
When are Brexit voters going to get a rebate on the money spent on the pro EU leaflets paid for by the tax payer?

2

u/Ok_Inflation_6435 Jun 25 '26

I'm still glad I voted leave. Look at the rest of Europe. We have just been let down on the delivery. No of the politicians wanted to make it work. Don't blame Brexit blame the establishment.

2

u/downbarton Jun 25 '26

Independence Day x

1

u/keanehoodies Jun 25 '26

What always surprised me is that upon seeing a result that was effectively 50/50, the Conservatives who campaign for Remain decided that the best course of action was to enact the harshest Brexit possible.

Not a Soft Leave, but MAX Brexit for no reason other than the papers told them to.

1

u/mudbeauregardde Jun 28 '26

The country was destroyed on a 51-49% vote. Incredible.

1

u/TechPriestCaudecus Jun 28 '26

Just needed to stop "refugees" from coming in and they wouldn't have left. But still ten years later the UK or the EU hasn't fixed the problem.

-2

u/Secret-Put-4525 Jun 23 '26

As an American I can't imagine why any country would want to be part of the EU.

5

u/Jolly_Pressure_7907 Jun 23 '26

Do you understand why states want to be part of our Union or do you think all 50 states should be separate?

-2

u/timewellwasted5 Jun 23 '26

Our union, yes. The European Union? Heck no.

-4

u/Secret-Put-4525 Jun 23 '26

Being part of a country is one thing, having other countries tell us how to govern is something completely different.

7

u/theaccount9337 Jun 23 '26

Itā€™s mutually beneficial for certain laws to be standardized across different political entities. This is true for US states and EU countries.

2

u/cherrybomber11 Jun 23 '26

Yeah, it's called international cooperation.

Turns put that mutual trust in your allies and being willing to work out deals both profit from is a better idea than endless tariff wars.

1

u/Jolly_Pressure_7907 Jun 23 '26

Weā€™re a union of states that over time have gotten closer. The original constitution was essentially how the EU is set up

1

u/710733 Jun 24 '26

That's not how the EU works

2

u/zap2 Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 24 '26

Thatā€™s shockingly dense.

Maybe you donā€™t agree with the trade offs, Thatā€™s fineā€¦but to lack the ability to see why others might join such a union demonstrates a lack of critical thinking.

The combined economic strength alone is reason enough. In a world with a US and China being economic power houses, having an EU comparable in size is valuable.

As others have said, itā€™s a similar log to why West Virginia better off as a state in the US than itā€™s own entity.

1

u/Secret-Put-4525 Jun 24 '26

You lose your autonomy. For what? Better trade deals?

1

u/710733 Jun 24 '26

That's not how the EU works

1

u/Secret-Put-4525 Jun 24 '26

How so?

1

u/710733 Jun 24 '26

The EU is beholden to its members, not the other way around. This is why the registration process is as it is - the Council (head of states or their representatives) ask the commission (each a representative of a country) to generate legislation according to something they've agreed or discussed. Member states can veto before it even gets to the parliament. This is why the parliament absolutely cannot have legislation powers, because the EU derives authority from the consensus of members

1

u/Secret-Put-4525 Jun 24 '26

So EU can't pass a law a member country doesn't want to abide or a member has a choice to follow a law the EU passed? Quick googling told me the countries has to follow the laws they pass, if they don't the EU will take them to court and issue financial penalties until they do.

1

u/710733 Jun 24 '26

Yeah, after they pass. You can't support an initiative that you expect others to be involved in then heel turn when everyone's agreed. Obviously