There was a referendum and the results are in. To now say, no, we're not going to do it is to say that the election was a fraud, that the opinions of the voters are irrelevant and government knows best.
While your point is understood, the fact is that the referendum does not carry the same legal obligation that an election does. To "overturn" the result would be political dynamite - but there is no legal offence.
As for why it was called - my guess is that Cameron was so sure of his view, that he was happy for the referendum to prove him right. That was a big OOPS!
Were that the case, why vote at all? Let government pick the leaders and everybody else can follow along. It would save so much time if there were no elections. Government knows best...
This could be taken as an argument that the
elected officials should make the decision and that the referendum was only to gauge the 'feeling' of the constituency. Running a country is not something that you can take every decision before the public - not because they aren't entitled to fair decisions, but because it's not always practical and the greater majority do not necessarily have the information or experience to make the right call. The risk is the ultimate 'design by committee' where even the number of times the salt shaker is shaken gets debated.
More important is that the underlying cause of the disenchantment with the EU won't go away. There will still be open borders, policy will still be dictated in Brussels and the continent still won't care much about the UK because the UK didn't adopt the Euro. Nothing changes...
That's true.
The government can either follow through or admit that the UK really isn't a democracy where majority rule matters.
Herein begs the question - does the weight of the Referendum (which seeks an opinion) exceed the power of the
elected officials that were specifically put in power to run the country?
Sure, to go against public opinion is a political minefield, but it's not as if the majority in the referendum was THAT overwhelming.
That it might take a couple of months to get the ducks in a row before filing paperwork isn't an unreasonable delay. What difference does it make how long it takes to file, the status quo exists until the UK is formally out of the EU and that is at least 24 months after a 2 month or so delay. Not a big deal!
I tend to agree - however, the important event is not when the exit is complete, but when Article 50 is activated.
Until then, there is uncertainty in every quarter.