About the Independence referendum issue…

What’s wrong with being asked what you want – on anything? On everything, even? Ross Perot – who funded his own campaign against Bill Clinton before what became Clinton’s first term of office, had in his manifesto what he called ‘the electronic town hall’. This would essentially be government by regular and instant referenda.

The technological capacity to do this is already here. The issue is – now that we could, if we chose, take decisions this way – is it appropriate for decisions any longer to be taken by elected representatives and not by us?

In the days when decision-taking by elected representatives began, education was not universal, travel and communications were unrecognisable to today’s world. The only practical way to get decisions taken then was to delegate responsibility to an educated few who would co-locate.

This system – with today’s mass media and speeds of mass movement of people and data – may no longer be a good fit.

Not being asked what you want and having it decided for you by others, whether or not you agree with them, is profoundly anti-democratic and reduces us to the status of juveniles.

But we’re stuck with it for the time being. So at least ask the question – and let’s all agree to work together to make the majority will work – whatever it is.