Facing our Waterloo? The referendum was unnecessary, and its consequences ironic

The shy pro-Europeanism of the last 40 years, together with the ways the EU was being abused for domestic purposes, all contributed to Brexit, writes John Gaffney. But the irony of it all is that the likely consequences of the vote could include both the break-up of the UK and that of the EU itself. An unnecessary referendum will therefore change the course of our history.