Analys: Historien talar för att britterna blir kvar

Referendums in the United Kingdom are by tradition extremely rare due to the principle of parliamentary sovereignty. To date, only two referendums have been held which have covered the whole of the United Kingdom: the first on membership of the European Economic Community in 1975, and the second on adopting the Alternative vote system in parliamentary elections in 2011. The current Conservative government has legislated to hold a second referendum on British membership of the European Union, which will be held on Thursday 23 June 2016, forty-one years after the 1975 EEC referendum, with active campaigning now underway. The Government of the United Kingdom has also to date held ten major referendums within the constituent countries of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on issues of devolution, sovereignty and independence, the first such referendum was the 1973 Northern Ireland border poll and the most recent being the 2014 Scottish Independence referendum. In addition, there have also been numerous referendums held by local authorities on issues such as temperance and directly elected mayors. Under the European Union Act 2011 there is provision for the holding of future referendums in the event of powers being transferred from the United Kingdom to the European Union under any treaty changes.