Finishing touches on a refresh of David Cameron's wax figure at Madame Tussaud's, with Boris Johnson next to him, 2015. Yui Mok / Press Association. All rights reserved.Huge amounts of energy are being invested in the REMAIN and LEAVE campaigns for the forthcoming EU referendum in the UK. The referendum vote on whether to remain in the European Union or not, is being presented by both sides as the most important decision that the UK voters will cast in their lifetimes. Both sides greatly exaggerate the benefits and risks of leaving or staying in the European Union.
In reality, whether the result is REMAIN or LEAVE, very little will change in terms of the general shape of the UK’s relationship with Europe and its institutions. Nothing will be as good outside the EU as the LEAVE camp suggests, and the world will not collapse as the REMAIN camp implies. The most likely scenario is that things will stay largely the same whatever the outcome of the voting.
The UK’s EU referendum has come about, not because of some overwhelming popular desire from the people, but as a result, essentially, of David Cameron’s attempts to prevent further destructive divisions fuelled partly by the rise of the UKIP, within the Conservative Party.
