Editorial: Brexit - the enchantment is over

In two days time, British citizens from Glasgow to Gibraltar will be voting on whether the United Kingdom should leave or remain in the European Union.

This is the second time in the last 41 years that the British populous has been balloted on the country’s continued part in the European project; the last time was in 1975, just two years after the United Kingdom had joined the nine-member European Community (EC).

On June 5th 1975, 65 per cent of the UK’s 40 million registered voters declared their support for the “Keep Britain In Europe” campaign, roundly rejecting the tenets of the “Out into the World” movement that had split the governing Labour Party’s pro-European leadership from fellow cabinet members and backbenchers.

Four decades later, history is being repeated, although the European Union has now trebled in size and the incumbent party favours blue neckties, not red.

While a vote to back the status quo seems likely, those who remember the failings of popular opinion polls in the run-up to the last general election in the UK will not be so trusting until exit polls at the 382 electoral counts start to paint a picture of fact, not intention.

What is certain is that Britain’s issue with Europe will not be solved by Friday afternoon. Assured to periodically resurface across the coming decades, in a special report, we take a look at the six main ways that we think a “Brexit”  could affect the UK’s oil and gas industry.