In the postwar era, three nationwide referendums have been held in Britain.
Two of them asked the British people to answer a simple question about a complicated issue. In 1975, the question was whether Britain should join the European Economic Community. Roughly 2 out of 3 voters said yes. In 2016, it was whether Britain should stay in the European Union. Just under 52% voted no.
Even fervent advocates of Britain’s break from the EU are now hard-pressed to name one result of Brexit that has made Britain a better place. Former Bank of England governor Mark Carney has noted that whereas in 2016 Britain’s economy was 90% the size of Germany’s, it’s now only 70% as big. For many people, including business owners and farmers, Brexit has been a disaster. Polls indicate that 56% of the British people think Brexit was a mistake.
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