ABSTRACT
The chapter discusses an opinion piece in this journal arguing that it was in both Britain's interest and that of the Commonwealth that the country should remain within the European Union (EU). The analogy may seem far-fetched but this is only because international organisations, including the EU, may or may not be necessary for good governance in an increasingly integrated world, but they cannot easily generate sentimental attachment, let alone passion. The problem with referendums—as a mechanism for democratic government—is that they challenge the assumptions on which this system is based. The seductive appeal of the Brexit campaign 'to take back control' is most unlikely to reduce the role of bureaucracy in British government. The business of negotiating and then running whatever new relationship with the EU emerges will require a similar investment in bureaucratic resource. Beyond such technical issues the major unresolved political issue concerns Scotland and Northern Ireland, the two regions which voted in favour of the EU.
