I will attempt to answer the core question of this thread-whether having a referendum on an issue as complex as our relationship with the EU is a mistake or not-by giving the background to the entire question. That should help guide the direction of thought.
There are three key events in the past quarter century and one element that have brought us to this point.
a)
The Maastricht Treaty - The
Treaty on European Union was signed in Maastricht in 1992. It created the European Union by merging the European Communities (the EEC, EURATOM and the European Coal and Steel Community). It also created the concept of Union citizenship and freedom of movement for citizens-till then, freedom of movement was mainly restricted to workers. It also had a Social Chapter, which the UK had opted out of, but which Tony Blair's government promptly opted into. It is such an important treaty that all subsequent treaties have been amendments to it and the
Treaty of Rome (TFEU).
The passage of the law enacting the Maastricht Treaty into UK law was so divisive in the Conservative Party that it practically destroyed it for the next 20 years. The Conservatives would not get a majority again till 2015. Even now, the main Eurosceptics such as IDS and John Whittingdale are the ones who had been Eurosceptic in the 1990s.
There are still bitter memories of how this issue of Europe lost the Conservatives the next four elections. I doubt they would want to repeat the experience. Much better to let the issue be decided outside the party.
b)
The A8 accession - The Maastricht Treaty had moved what was an economic union/Single Market in the direction of a political union. And the EU started admitting members to make a political statement rather than for purely economic reasons. The Fall of the Berlin wall led to the joining of the three neutral countries of Austria, Sweden and Finland. But it also gave the EU the chance to be truly European by welcoming the former Warsaw Pact countries in 2004, with the A8 joining the EU along with Cyprus and Malta.
The then British government of Tony Blair did not expect a lot of migrants and so did not put any restrictions on A8 citizens, as say Germany did. The scale of the ensuing migration can be gauged from the fact that Polish went from being a language being rarely spoken in the UK in 2001 to the second most spoken language, being more than the third and fourth combined in 2011. That is a seismic shock to the country's population and culture. As a parallel, the rise of Hindi-Urdu and Punjabi, the third and fourth languages, took a few decades. And that was just Polish. That does not take into account other people from the A8 countries.
People had started to talk about this issue since 2007-8. But it was seen as politically incorrect for the politicians to respond to such issues. This was epitomised by the Gillian Duffy incident in the 2010 Election.
c)
Loss of trust-the expenses scandal in 2009 - The expenses scandal destroyed a significant chunk of the people's trust and confidence in their elected MPs. Now everything that they did, not just their expenses, were suspect. If they took any decision on the EU, it would be suspect as well.
The OP referred to "mature informed decision". By definition, the only people who would have the time and inclination to look into these issues would have to be members of the "elite". Given that they are looked down upon as well, who would take a "mature informed decision"?
d)
The complexity of the EU - The average person does not appreciate just how complex the EU is. I will give two examples.
During a conversation with an official of the European Scrutiny Committee (ESC) in the House of Commons, I learnt that the ESC receives about 5000 pieces of documents a year from Brussels. These documents range from letters asking for opinions to detailed directives and regulations. To put it in perspective, 5000 a year is roughly one every two hours of every single day of the year. That is after considering that the UK is not a part of the Eurozone, not a part of Schengen and has opted out of most of the Justice and Home Affairs pillar.
Switzerland's relationship with the EU is quite unusual in that it is based on a series of bilateral treaties. There are 7 core treaties that govern the relationship between the two. But further legislation must be implemented by new treaties. By 2010, Switzerland has accumulated 210 treaties with the EU. The EU has imposed a moratorium on further treaties with Switzerland as it wants a more efficient way to apply EU laws to Switzerland.
Now, with this background, can you see why having this referendum was inevitable?
I am not a lawyer or immigration advisor. My statements/comments do not constitute legal advice. E&OE. Please do not PM me for advice.
