Up to this point how will history view the EU
Has it been a success
Or has it been a failure
Nothing is that black and white, and it depends on the perspective you take. Has it been successful in its original purposes of helping to rebuild Europe after the war and avoiding further wars in Western Europe - undoubtedly, to the extent that these things are no longer relevant. Has it been successful in helping countries emerging from decades of dictatorship to adapt to the wider world as democracies - yes Spain, Portugal, the old soviet bloc countries. Has it helped make some poor bits of Europe a bit richer? I think so. Is it a bureaucratic talking shop - undoubtedly though I'm not sure what the alternative is trying to get 28 countries to move in the same direction. Does it do some things badly? Absolutely, the migrant crisis being one recent example, and the implementation of the euro the biggest. Does it support vested interests - probably, French farmers being the obvious group. Has it offered more protection to ordinary people - to an extent in employment regulations and consumer standards. Does it get involved in things it doesn't have to - yes, some of the legal stuff in particular. Will it ever appeal to people who are against this kind of cooperation and collaboration in principle because of the loss of national control they feel it requires - of course not.
It could of course be much, much better, to the extent that having a referendum would be a nonsensical waste of time, but I'd give it a C+ given the complexities and varied interests the EU institutions have to get consensus over to be able to do anything.
I realise that this is entirely unscientific, but just about everyone I know of all ages says they are voting to leave. Also they all say the same.
Yet the polls seem to suggest it as 50-50.
Hopefully the polls are as wrong as they were before the last general election.
Who knows with the polls. I read this morning that Cameron's private polls give Remain a lead of nearly 10%, on the grounds that Remain voters are 'harder to reach', whatever that means. And if you look on here the poll is still pro staying, though I think the majority of the posts are, just, pro Brexit. I do genuinely think that the Brexit case carries more passion ( though the Brexit campaign leadership has failed to turn this into a positive in my view) and a lot of people, when faced with someone with a strong and deeply held conviction, will fall in line or stay quiet rather than cause a scene. Not me though, as you may have noticed.