THE result of the EU referendum is not binding on the government – the decision is not final until Parliament has repealed the 1972 European Communities Act.

We desperately need an MP brave enough to rally support to refuse to leave the EU.

It will be said we should obey the democratic view of the people but there are overwhelming reasons why we should not regard this result as an expression of a democratic choice.

• We were given an almost meaningless proposition with a yes/no choice, and with a hypothetical, poorly-defined Leave scenario with several incompatible visions.

• The leave campaign degenerated into dishonesty on an industrial scale.

• There was insufficient discussion of the far-reaching consequences of leaving the EU.

• It is clear younger people tend to support staying in the EU.

Any decision to leave won’t be implemented for several years; by then a vote to endorse clarified conditions for leaving would probably bring a call to remain in the EU by the changed electorate.

• A referendum cannot be regarded as fully ‘democratic’ simply because people cast a vote.

People must be as truthfully and fully informed as possible about the issues.

• Do we want to spend years in chaos, haggling terms to leave, blighting the prime years of our young and wasting time that should be spent in collaborative efforts to face pressing world issues – the desperate refugee crisis and climate change?

It is now the responsibility of MPs to ensure that we do not take a decision affecting the lives of millions of people for decades on the basis of one dishonest, inadequate campaign and a narrow margin in favour of leave, when the voting pattern suggests that in a few years there will be a majority to remain within the EU.

Pauline Oakley

Bussage