Referenda: They've always been a bolt-on to the UK's body politic. I believe the first one in the UK was called by Harold Wilson to confirm Britain's EU membership; comment at the time was that he'd done so to go over the heads of [some of?] his Cabinet, who disliked the Common Market.

Please correct me if I'm misremembering. It's raining here, and the rising humidity is causing my brain to throw parity errors.