-this vote is not binding, it is a referendum. It needs to pass parliament in order to change legislation to take Britain out of the EU. it might go through or there might be a snap election
-putting every issue to a referendum vote is not how democracy works, the reason we have elected officials is to have people that are deemed qualified (by voters) and have the time and resources to examine the issues and vote accordingly in the interests of their constituents and country. the general public does not have the knowledge + time + resources to make informed decisions on topics like these and this is a clear example of why things should not be put to popular vote. People vote with emotion more than reason.
-Britain not being part of the EU has huge potential to harm their economy. First there are a lot of reasons for multinational corporations that have EU headquarters in the UK will likely leave. There is the likelihood of tariffs being introduced on goods coming in and going out of the UK increasing costs.
-in 1995 canada had a referendum asking if quebec should become an independent country, and it was a 50% +1 vote, and it came back 49.42% yes.