Yes, and? The Treaty was still signed. There was some grand-standing and point-making, but the UK is still a signatory.

How hard would it have been for a vehemently sceptical and hostile UK government to organise a referendum in the UK? What do you think the result would have been?

New Labour, like Thatcher's Tories, has always taken an aggressive and not very helpful negotiating position. But that's very different to planning full secession - and there has never been any interest in that.

In fact the resistance has always been against left-leaning legislation, not against the EU as a whole. The business benefits of the EU are obvious, and I'm not convinced that the Tories are going to go against that, even if voters want them to.