Brexit. This whole thing - the debate, the arguments, the endless negotiations.
It all kicked off in 2016 when almost 17 million people voted for the UK to leave
the EU. That was 1 million more than voted to remain. But now the whole
thing seems so messy and complicated that some people say the only way to
resolve the situation is to have yet another vote and ask the public to do it
all over again. But could there really be a second referendum?
Now yes obviously
some people would support a second referendum and others are completely
against it. But for now we're just asking is it even possible - and if so what would it look like?
Well, Theresa May has already said she won't hold another public vote on Brexit.
But she could be forced to do it if enough MPs decide to push legislation
through parliament. In other words it's possible that Theresa May might not have a choice.
But it's still lots of unanswered questions. First up, what would actually
be on the ballot paper? Back in 2016 all this seemed so straightforward - a simple
choice between leaving the EU or remaining in it. But as we've seen over
the last two years, leaving the EU could happen in lots of very different ways.
In fact we did a whole video looking at all the variations - with soft Brexit,
hard Brexit and somewhere in between Brexit. You see at the moment we're not
just part of the EU's political systems, we're also part of the EU
institutions like the single market, the customs union and the European Court of
Justice. So when people voted in 2016, what did they actually want? Did they want us to break
off all connection with everything? Or should we still be, I don't know, part of the
EU's customs union, or something or, well, anything? Now of course plenty of
politicians claim that they know what the people really wanted
when they voted the leave the EU. But the reality is none of these complex questions were
on the 2016 ballot paper, so it's all just speculation. The only thing we
really know for sure is that most voters wanted to leave the EU. We don't know how
they wanted to leave. So if there was a second referendum it probably wouldn't be
exactly the same as the last one. Instead people might be given more options to choose from.
So what could these options be?
One of them would probably be the draft deal that Theresa May has agreed with the EU.
Supporters of her plan say she's managed to find a good, pragmatic compromise. But
her opponents say it's the worst of both worlds. Whatever you think of it, right
now it's the only deal on the table. So if there is another referendum this is
very likely to be one of the options. Another possible option will be to
cancel breaks it altogether and remain in the EU. Many Brexiteers, though, say
this shouldn't be on the ballot paper. They say the question of whether the UK
should leave the EU has already been settled by the last referendum in 2016.
On the flip side people campaigning for a second referendum say 'hold on, it's now
become a lot clearer what Brexit would actually involve and people might
have changed their mind.' And they also say there are big
questions about the leave side's campaign tactics. So if remainers campaigning for
a second vote get their way, this option is also likely to be on the ballot. What
about that third choice then? Well some Brexit supporters say if people don't
like Theresa May's deal they should be able to vote for the UK to leave you without
any deal at all. But again lots of people will be against
this idea because they're worried that leaving with no deal could lead to
economic chaos. Ultimately the decision on what
questions are on the ballot paper will be up to MPs and the Electoral
Commission. But at the moment it looks likely we'd have a choice between all
three of these options. Wait a minute. Two of these options at different versions of Brexit.
But there's only one remain option. That would divide up the Brexit supporters
and reduce their votes, which might not sound very fair. One solution then will
be to give voters more than one choice. The referendum could use a system called
the alternative vote which it basically allows you to rank the options in order
of preference. Initially only people's first preferences are added up. If they
don't reach the 50% mark needed to win then the second preferences are included
as well. So a three-way vote is possible - ish. Experts say it would take weeks and
weeks just a plan it all properly. And that's a problem because time is running
out. We're currently set to leave the EU on the 29th of March 2019, so if Parliament does
decide to call a second referendum it's actually it's already kind of too late.
To get around this the government would have to buy extra time and ask the EU to
delay Brexit. And that's only gonna make Brexit supporters even more angry. And
the problems don't end there. Lots of the same issues that made people angry last
time around could come back round all over again. For one thing should young
people be allowed to vote this time? In most UK elections you've got to be 18 to
vote, but there are calls for it to be lowered to 16. In fact 16 year-olds were
allowed to vote in another referendum back in 2014 over Scottish independence.
Now some people say 'of course they should be allowed to vote
after all if them who live with the effects of Brexit for the longest.' But
the others say this is just a cynical attempt to try and swing the vote
because, well, we know that young people are much more likely to vote remain. So
if they were given a chance to vote in a second referendum it might just look
like a stitch-up in favour of remainers. Ultimately it's hard to say whether a
second referendum would actually put an end to all this brexit chaos.
It mainly just depends on your viewpoint. Yes technically it is possible, but it
might actually just make even more political chaos.
Either way the issue is not going away anytime soon, so in the meantime please
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