The 2016 referendum was advisory, that point was put beyond question by the Supreme Court judgment. We consider that an advisory referendum is an expression of opinion, it is not a declaration of will. We cannot see any democratic pathway that enables that opinion to become a decision.

The Prime Minister decreed, in a pamphlet distributed to every household, that the referendum would be the decision, and reiterated that in his speech from Chatham House where he almost literally commanded the people to do the job that we keep parliament for, but there are no reasonable grounds to imagine that anyone believed the decree nor obeyed his orders. There appears to be no democratic basis for the referendum becoming a decision. The government must explain how it happened."