With a further six-month extension to Brexit and the can being kicked even further down the road, it was intriguing to note that the result of a nationwide referendum in Switzerland had been overturned.

The poll, held in February 2016, asked the country’s voters whether married couples and cohabiting partners should pay the same tax. Voters narrowly rejected the proposal, with 50.8 per cent against and 49.2 per cent in favour.

But the Supreme Court has now voided the result on the grounds that voters were not given full information, and the vote must be rerun.

The information provided to the electorate was judged “incomplete” and therefore “violated the freedom of the vote”, the court ruled.

During the referendum campaign, the Swiss government told voters just 80,000 married couples were paying more tax than couples living together. The true figure was almost half a million, the government later said.

The court’s statement noted that: “Keeping in mind the close result and the severe nature of the irregularities, it is possible that the outcome of the ballot could have been different.”

How refreshing this is as we look to the current situation in the UK where voters were likewise not given the full information. The negative economic impacts of Brexit are becoming clearer and Brexiteer claims of £350m a week to the NHS and that a deal with the EU would be “the easiest trade deal in human history” have quickly melted away.

Reality has struck, public reaction has changed and there is clear support not only for a People’s Vote but for staying in the EU. As with Switzerland, now that the circumstances have changed, we deserve the right to have our say.

Alex Orr
Edinburgh