"That's a huge thing for me to say, because if it had been a supermajority we’d have lost and we’d still be in."
In yet more Brexit regret, leading Brexiteer Steve Baker has expressed regret that the Brexit referendum did not require a supermajority to pass!
The Northern Ireland Office minister made the comments as he suggested a “50 per cent plus one” majority would not be advisable for a vote on Irish unification, adding that a supermajority during Brexit would’ve meant that more people would’ve ‘abided by the result’.
Baker made the remarks during a question-and-answer session of the assembly at the K Club in Co Kildare, Ireland. Asked about whether he had any regrets about the Brexit campaign, Baker replied: “One regret is it probably should have been a supermajority.
“That’s a huge thing for me to say, because if it had been a supermajority we’d have lost and we’d still be in.
“But the reason I say that is if we’d had to have 60 per cent, everybody would have abided by the result.
“If it had been a 60-40 result, it’s inconceivable to me that we would have had all of the political difficulty which followed from Members of Parliament in particular refusing to accept the result.”
His comments come after a poll last week revealed that the demand to reverse Brexit has hit its ‘highest ever level’.
The poll from WeThink, affiliated with Omnisis, shows that 63% of those surveyed believe that the UK should now reverse the referendum result, and return to its previous trading relationship with the bloc. Just 37% of voters want to stay out of the EU.
Baker cautioned against a “50 per cent plus one” result in any potential Irish unification vote.
He asked: “Would anyone here seriously want a 50 per cent plus one United Ireland result in Northern Ireland?”
After some indicated “yes”, Baker warned them it could cause similar problems and political wrangling seen in the UK after the close Brexit result.
He said: “Just reflect on the trouble we had from running a 50 per cent plus one referendum in the United Kingdom and ask yourself whether you really want that trouble in Northern Ireland – and I don’t.”
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