A British taxpayer making over £43,000 ($57,000) pays a crushing tax rate of 40%, along with a 20% VAT on every item he purchases. The average wait time for an operation with the National Health Service is 10 weeks. The energy bill for an average British household jumped by 30% between 2011 and 2015, mainly to support David Cameron’s green-energy fixation.

These problems are British, not EU-made. If the result of Brexit is to force London to dial down its own big-state tendencies, so much the better. The likelier result is that the next prime minister will have to spend his political capital trying to keep the United Kingdom together and hoping a Brexit-related recession isn’t pinned on him. American conservatives who think Brexit will pave the way for the return of Margaret Thatcher’s spirit may find themselves disappointed when the ghost of Ted Heath shows up instead.