listen to this week's public event in London.
Seventeen million people voted to leave the EU last Thursday, an
historically important democratic moment. Yet there are already
attempts to thwart or row back from this decision. Many have signed a
petition urging a second referendum so that voters can give the ‘right
answer’; others threaten the vote with lawyers and bureaucratic
challenges. There is contempt for voters who effectively revolted
against an establishment that told them they should vote Remain. There
seems to be a special brand of bigotry aimed at white working-class
voters, with talk of ‘sewers’, and sections of the electorate being
castigated for their ignorance and xenophobia. Others seek to stir up a
distasteful generational revolt, prompting some younger Remain voters to
turn on anyone over 60 with vicious accusations of selfishness and
betrayal.
This should be a moment that feels pregnant with possibilities,
opening up chances for shaping the future. And yet many feel scared —
genuinely scared. Uncertainty and change can be disconcerting. Democracy
has been revealed as more than a paper exercise: people now know it has
very real consequences.
How should we interpret the vote for Brexit? What should democrats do
to ensure that popular sovereignty is not squandered? How can we best
shape positive developments in future months, and ensure that this
democratic moment is not neutralised?
At this meeting held earlier this week, organised by the Institute of Ideas and spiked, Professor Frank Furedi, author of Politics of Fear: Beyond Left and Right and Authority: A Sociological History, gives an opening talk and Claire Fox, Director of the Institute of Ideas responds. Tom Slater, deputy editor of spiked, introduces and chairs.