British PM reacted in calm fashion, unlike some

JC Wilcox quotes me as claiming that “Without law, democracy is a mob”. In fact, if he again reads my letter, he will note that I made no such observation. The statement is not attributable to me.
Mr Wilcox is irked by the recent decision of High Court judges in the UK to require that the decision by the British people in a referendum to leave the EU be subject to a vote in Parliament. In his most recent letter he rightly states that Parliament represents the people, and that when the people have made a decision in a national referendum, it is not for their agents to question that decision. But that isn’t what has happened! Parliament has not opposed the will of the people. In a parliamentary democracy, parliament makes laws on behalf of the people, but then hands over responsibility for the interpretation and application of these laws to the judiciary.
Fortunately, our Prime Minister Theresa May has a far better understanding than JC Wilcox of the principles of democracy and the rule of law, and how they complement each other, so, whilst unhappy with the judges’ ruling, she avoided hysterical outbursts about “the will of the people”, instead reaffirmed the importance of the independence of the judiciary, and took the legal remedy open to her government – an appeal to the Supreme Court to have the ruling overturned.
Robin Grant