Is there a Convention that a Referendum binds Parliament?

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Jane Lambert

A tenet of our constitution is that no Parliament can bind its successors. Another is that MPs are representatives and not delegates.  Nothing in the European Union Referendum Act 2015 required the government to implement the vote but, even if it had, it would not have been effective because there has been a general election since then.  There is nothing in law to prevent the legislature from repealing a statute providing for a referendum as easily as it could any other.

So where do Mrs May and many others in her party find support for her curious notion that Parliament is under an obligation to deliver brexit?  Could it be an emerging convention?   If so, it is a very recent one as we have only had three referendums since 1975.  When Winston Churchill proposed a referendum on extending the life of the wartime parliament until victory over Japan, Clement Atlee replied:

"I could not consent to the introduction into our national life of a device so alien to all our traditions as the referendum which has only too often been the instrument of Nazism and Fascism."

Some have argued that the sheer number of votes in favour of brexit give the 2016 referendum a special status.  Perhaps but it is worth remembering that almost exactly the same number voted for the Nazi party in the 1933 Reichstag elections (see March 1933 German federal election Wikipedia).

Parliament has ignored referendum results before even when the majority was overwhelming,  Some 66% of the Western Australian electorate voted for the secession of their state from Australia in 1933. The implementation of that decision required the approval of the UK Parliament because the Australian constitution was then a British statute. Westminster refused to consider secession as I noted in The Western Australian Secession Referendum - A Precedent for Dealing with Troublesome Referendums? 17 Dec 2018 which was probably for the best in view of the war with Japan a few years later (see Sometimes it is a Good Thing to ignore Referendums 19 Dec 2018).

At best the so-called duty can only be a political one arising from the 2015 Conservative election manifesto. There is no reason why anyone else should feel bound to deliver brexit unless they want to do so.  Anyone wishing to discuss this article or brexit, in general, should call me on 020 7404 5252 during office hours or send me a message through my contact page.