It took less than a century for the UK to break democracy
Re: “As Thailand struggles on, Britain surrenders in battle for democracy”, Have Your Say, April 24.
I don’t think 1707 was the date democracy was born in Great Britain. It is the date of the union whereby Scotland benefited by a great expansion of markets to England and its colonies.
The unified Parliament featured the unelected House of Lords, rotten boroughs, and a very limited franchise. Universal adult suffrage has only existed in the UK since 1928.
The political system in the UK is clearly broken. To be fully democratic, a single transferable voting system needs implementing, something the British introduced in Ireland with the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1919.
Withdrawal from the EU means restricted access to the single market for the UK and maybe the break-up of the union established in 1707.
Ian Martin
Bangkok
