Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Letter: Was 'Il Duce' right?

Dr Anthony Storr
Saturday 13 March 1993 00:02 GMT
Comments

Sir: The Conservative Government may like to know that their decision not to hold a referendum on Maastricht would have been supported by a famous European politician.

Can you imagine a war being declared by referendum? A referendum works splendidly when it is a question of choosing the most suitable place to put the village pump, but when the supreme interests of the people are at stake, even ultra-democratic governments take care not to refer them to the judgement of the people.

Mussolini wrote this in 1924 in his Prelude to Machiavelli's The Prince. One hates to think that he may have been right.

Yours faithfully,

ANTHONY STORR

Oxford

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in