DISINFO: Remainers lie that Brexit referendum was "advisory" to sabotage people's democratic choice
SUMMARY
The 2016 Brexit referendum was not advisory in nature. The term “advisory” was created by Remainers to destroy and damage Brexit. The politicians at the time said: “We will carry out the express will of this vote.” There is nothing advisory about that.
RESPONSE
This claim is false. Given its strong tradition of parliamentarism, the United Kingdom has seen very few national referenda. In fact, the fundamental UK principle of parliamentary sovereignty makes it à priori impossible for a any national poll to have a binding effect on the legislature. The legal basis for holding the 2016 Brexit referendum was the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 and the purpose-made European Union Referendum Act 2015. Even before the referendum, experts made it clear that the latter piece of legislation "makes no provision as to the referendum's legal effect." All of the above has been confirmed in a High Court ruling of 3 November 2016:
"That Act [on the EU membership referendum] falls to be interpreted in light of the basic constitutional principles of Parliamentary sovereignty and representative parliamentary democracy which apply in the United Kingdom, which lead to the conclusion that a referendum on any topic can only be advisory for the lawmakers in Parliament unless very clear language to the contrary is used in the referendum legislation in question. No such language is used in the 2015 Referendum Act."