Here is an interesting article. All this goes to show that there are certain crucial matters where the will of the people is not taken up and blindly followed by their parliamentary “representatives” - they’re not delegates.
So where does this leave the Brexit vote? What force does it have? Well, the court in Miller & Others -v- The Secretary of State for Existing the European Union put it succinctly:
“106. That Act falls to be interpreted in light of the basic constitutional principles of parliamentary sovereignty and representative parliamentary democracy which apply in the United Kingdom, which lead to the conclusion that a referendum on any topic can only be advisory for the lawmakers in Parliament unless very clear language to the contrary is used in the referendum legislation in question. No such language is used in the 2015 Referendum Act.
107. Further, the 2015 Referendum Act was passed against a background including a clear briefing paper to parliamentarians explaining that the referendum would have advisory effect only. Moreover, Parliament must have appreciated that the referendum was intended only to be advisory as the result of a vote in the referendum in favour of leaving the European Union would inevitably leave for future decision many important questions relating to the legal implementation of withdrawal from the European Union.
108. We emphasise that the Secretary of State's position on this part of the argument and the observations in the preceding paragraphs relate to a pure legal point about the effect in law of the referendum. This court does not question the importance of the referendum as a political event, the significance of which will have to be assessed and taken into account elsewhere.”
I wonder why this was not explained at all during the referendum campaign?
Come on MPs. Do the job that we pay you for. Be leaders not followers.