ATT:- Sir Christopher Meyer:- Free Speech is not Undemocratic

The concept of the Western-style democratic system is that an accountable government funded by revenue from the market will distribute wealth fairly, thus creating a secure and prosperous society. An election or a referendum is not it itself democracy. It is merely the preferable mechanism through which good governance can be delivered. It is time, therefore, that those debating Brexit stop hijacking this word ‘democracy’ for their own ends.  Sir Christopher Meyer, former ambassador to Washington and television pundit, is one of the latest to use this ‘anti-democratic’ card in his criticism of Sir John Major’s contribution to the Brexit debate.  If elections did actually deliver  ‘democracy’, there would not now be war in Iraq. Nor would Northern Ireland, Sri Lanka and other societies have gone through so many decades or violence.  This is when the ballot box creates an unhealthy, winner takes all society -- Protestants suppress Catholics; Sinhala crush Tamils; Shia take revenge on Sunnis. This is when the ballot box is designed to silence the losers, and what many in Britain are now demanding.  We must remind them that freedom of expression is not an anti-democratic activity. How strange are these times that this has to be spelt out.