Referenda politics for the United Kingdom
If there is anyone thing that is a human right, it is democracy. The more of it the better. There is nothing more worthwhile to aim for than democracy. The alternative is authoritarian control and the imposition of subjective moralites.
Does the Parliament currently represent the will of the people. In principle we voted for our MPs by choosing those that represent our views and will. They got together in Parliament and from across the country they have meetings in which they discuss a matter and come to a decision that represents the view of the majority of the people in the country (51 percent). That is the will of the people. It is not ideal but the best that has evolved in the United Kingdom. It is for us to move it in the right direction of increased democracy in the future.
That is the ideal but only for very contentious issues, which can be ascertained through a public petition-making process as happens now in the government website set up for this form of public consultation. But it does not currently go in the direction of holding referenda. If they get 100,000 signatures on the petition for a topic, MPs are merely forced to discuss the matter in the House of Commons. The party political nature of Parliament means that they will never be able to agree on very contentious issues. The nature of the monarchy we have in the United Kingdom and Censorship, free press and privacy laws are both very contentious issues. These require nothing less than referenda to sort out what more than 50 per cent of the public really want.
The shortcoming of referenda politics is that it is difficult to get 50 per cent of the electorate into the voting booth so that the outcome of a referendum will not represent the wishes of the people arguable. But if people do not wish to vote that is their right. Of those who can be bothered to vote a 51 per cent majority should decide on these contentious issues.
Those who use the argument that 'only a smallish number of people make these contentious issues' and wish to carry on with the status quo are denying people democracy. It is for thinkers to identify what are contentious issues of human rights concern.