[Margaret Pilkington]

Eric, I have been giving your comment about a majority'.....and 'mandate' quite a bit of thought.
In our general elections we have a first past the post system.
So this means that if there are only two parties,the one who gets the most votes wins and governs. They have the mandate to govern because the people who voted gave them a majority.
If there are more than two parties in the election, then it is much less likely that the party which gets the majority are the party that the most voters voted for(and therefore have a mandate to govern).
In these situations it is highly likely that the governing party got far fewer than the combined votes of the other parties.
The only way for this to become a level playing field is for us to ditch the first past the post system,in favour of proportional representation.
This was proposed in the past,but declined as it was considered that us badly educated plebs would never get our heads around the concept.

However the referendum question gives only two options(this can be likened to having only two candidates).
It makes the likelihood of an outright majority more likely.
I know that you are a very well educated man(far better educated than I am) and that you don't need me to,outline this for you, but there are others who might gain something from this explanation.

And yes Son, you are right about the relationship between the Beeb and the EU.....which as I said in previous posts limits their ability to be unbiased.

Many politicians will also have their eyes on the prize too....the EU gravy train.....which is why I treat their views with a large lump of scepticism.

The intervention of the EU in the law making process for this country means that our MP's can sit on their rumps and do LESS for more money....the guys in Brussels are doing their work for them......better still, when their constituents complain they can give a Gallic shrug and blame the EU.
Now isn't that the best of both worlds?

It is time to take our coats and hats off the EU peg.
We do NOT need them.
Our farmers can go back to,farming, the fishermen can go back to fishing our waters unhindered by EU red tape and regulations....we can buy mis-shaped fruit and veg(just as tasty, just as nourishing).

We can police our borders in the way they should be policed, we can ditch the ECHR.
We can deport those rapist, burglars and other criminals which have been allowed free let to do their dastardly deeds here, with not a glance to Strasbourg to see what they think.

None of this is going to be easy, but to take the easy option.....the one which sees us mired into this illusion of a reformed EU(as Jim Royle would say 'reformed my ar$e) is not something I care to think about.