In the first place, the UK is a representative democracy. We don't need to have referendums. They are not mandatory for the system. If we start to decide things by referendum eventually people will demand referendums for anything and everything.
Now people often say "but isn't a referendum fairer? Isn't it the 'voice of the people'". Theoretically yes, but in practice, the only reason politicians ever allow a referendum is because they think the point of view they are pushing for is going to win. For example, the Scottish Nationalists have been lobbying for "independence" for years - it is certainly their ultimate objective. Now they won the last election in Scotland, in the sense that they got the most votes and won the most seats, but that &$£^%£$ Alex Salmond won't call the referendum on independence he has been demanding, and the only reason is because he knows he will lost it.
This would hardly be a trivial referendum. Some background.
The UK was promised a referendum on the Lisbon treaty by the Labour party as part of their election platform. However Gordon ‘the Leper’ Brown reneged on this promise, gave no referendum and signed the treaty anyway.
Now Cameron is coming under pressure (from the success of UKIP and from his own backbenchers) to finally let the British people express their opinion of the treaty and of what the EU has become.
The choice will indeed be either IN or OUT of the EU’s repressive customs- and debt-union.
This isn’t like a healthcare bill or some other fairly trivial matter, these (Scottish independence, EU membership) are major constitutional issues that are about WHO governs us, these matters are absolutely the kinds of issues that require a referendum, and politicians have absolutely no right whatsoever to change the body which governs us without consulting the people. We should have had referendums each time the EU tried to take more power from Westminster, but it didn’t happen...
Referendums become necessary when the 2 parties become one of the same and are working together against the people. I wist the US would hold a referendum on the UN.