LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th May, 2019) The possibility of the United Kingdom's 2016 vote to leave the European Union being overturned would imperil the UK political system because it would make voters lose faith in the country's democratic process, UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader, Gerard Batten, told Sputnik on Friday.
In April, the United Kingdom got approval from the European Union for a Brexit extension up to October 31, which means that the UK government is now obliged to participate in the upcoming EU parliamentary elections. Now, some UK officials are proposing to put Brexit up for a second referendum, which could potentially mean the the process could be overturned if it gets enough votes to remain in the EU bloc.
"If the result of the referendum is overturned then the democratic system is dead. Just forget it, as nobody is going to believe in it," Batten argued speaking from the UKIP campaign bus in the city of Romford, northeast of London.
Batten said many of his party's constituents were mistrustful of the democratic process following the Brexit fiasco that has been tearing up the UK Parliament for the last few months.
"Today we are in Romford Market which has always been one of UKIP's best areas and whilst we have got a lot of support, there are also people there who say they will never bother to vote again, there is no point as they will just get ignored. So there is a serious danger the Remain [in the European Union] vote will do very well and the Leave vote won't do as well, as a lot of Leave voters no longer believe in the democratic system. And who can blame them?" the party leader said.
Batten also argued that euroskeptics, those in favor of leading the EU bloc, had a limited choice when it came to voting in the upcoming EU parliament elections, given the "unbelievably appalling" conduct of the ruling Conservative party over the past three years.
Batten also raised the possibility of the Conservative party losing seats in the European Parliament following their disastrous performance in local elections last week. The Tories lost a total of 1,334 councilors in stark contrast to a surge in support for the pro-EU Liberal Democrats, a set back some have linked to Prime Minister Theresa May's arguably poor record in securing an orderly exit from the European Union.
"Ultimately whoever the voters vote for, I expect the Tories to get wiped out," Batten said.
Batten's comments follow in the wake of European Council President Donald Tusk saying on Friday that the chances of Brexit being canceled altogether were between 20 and 30 percent.
Speaking to the Polish Gazeta Wyborcza news outlet, Tusk stressed his support for the United Kingdom holding a second referendum on Brexit, claiming the full consequences of leaving the European Union had not been properly considered during the previous vote.
"The real debate on the consequences of Brexit started not before or during the referendum campaign, but after the vote. Today the results would probably look different," Tusk said.
Tusk also said there was historical precedent for such a move, referring to Britain's previous 1975 vote that ensured the country remaining in the European Economic Community (EEC) it had joined just two years earlier.
At that time, UK voters approved by 67 percent to remain within the EEC, then a precursor organization to the current European Union. Tusk added that the modern Brexit process itself had further solidified pro-European sentiment, given the sizable support shown for a second referendum last March when roughly one million activists demonstrated in London in favor of a second vote.
"Paradoxically, it is Brexit that triggered a pro-European movement in the UK," Tusk said.
British voters will head to polling stations across the country on May 23 to elect their choice of representative to the European Parliament. Although not controversial in itself, the elections for 2019 have attracted scrutiny given that the United Kingdom was supposed to originally exit the European Union on March 29, but has twice extended the deadline.
