What links Tunisia's constitutional referendum and Brexit? Both sell a big lie

Tunisia’s vote to restrict democracy is like Brexit’s claim to make the UK richer. Both referendums sell the big lie.

On July 25 Tunisia voted in a referendum that would change its constitution.

It was very like Britain’s June 2016 Brexit referendum.

Both mean a profound change and not for the good.

Like the Brexit referendum, Tunisia’s vote on a new constitution did not set a high bar or any minimum participation percentage in order to be binding. But the people will have spoken and the result will have to be respected, no matter what.

Like the Brexit referendum, Tunisia’s vote was sold as one thing, but will do the opposite.

Brexit was supposed to make Britain more “global” and richer (by fantastical new trade deals and supposedly keeping hundreds of millions of pounds within Britain rather than giving them to the European Union!)

Tunisia’s constitutional change to a presidential system has similarly been sold as a way to push through the people’s agenda, which is to say to execute the ord…