The UK voted to join the eec, which then morphed into the eu with various treaties. By the time of the Lisbon treaty, the UK was promised a referendum. That pr

The UK voted to join the eec, which then morphed into the eu with various treaties. By the time of the Lisbon treaty, the UK was promised a referendum. That promise was then broken, probably because France, the Netherlands and Ireland all had referendums and all voted against the eu constitution which then became the Lisbon treaty. The prime minister was rightly worried that the UK would vote against it. Ireland got a referendum on the Lisbon treaty, and so it passed. France and the Netherlands didn't get a referendum on that and I expect there is some resentment in those countries still because of it.