MORE than two centuries ago, the liberal philosopher Edmund Burke delivered a bracing warning to voters in Bristol, who had just elected him to Parliament. If his constituents had opinions, he announced, he would "rejoice" to hear them. But he would not be Bristol's envoy to Parliament, nor take instructions from his electors. At Westminster, he would deliberate in the national interest, not theirs.rnNobody denounced Burke by name in the House of Commons on October 24th, when more than 80 Conservatives defied party leaders to back a referendum on Britain's ties to the European Union. But today's backbenchers unmistakably rejected Burke's lofty vision of representative democracy.rnSpeaker after speaker called for the British to have their say. Resigning what he endearingly called his "minuscule job" as a ministerial aide, Adam Holloway told colleagues not to fret about the result of the proposed referendum (on whether Britain should stay in the eu, leave or seek a looser relationship based on trade and co-operation). Think only of principle, and of what your constituents want, Mr Holloway told fellow mps, urging them not to "rebel against the people who sent them here."rnThe palm for populism went to the referendum motion's sponsor, David Nuttall. Week after week, he declared, the British public spends money voting on televised contests such as "The x Factor". Many would be "baffled" that the government wished to deny them a vote on Britain's future relationship with the eu. Tory backbenchers have come a long way since their idol Margaret Thatcher (speaking in 1975) mused that referendums might be no more than "a device of dictators and demagogues".
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