[throwaway6734]

I understand where you're coming from, but try not to get too pessimistic. The UK has made i through much worse and come out the other end.

[data_maan]

Past success is not a good predictor. Probably the Roman senators at the end of the Roman Empire also thought "oh well, we've been dragging our feet lately, but somehow things will work out".

I would say the most likely outcome is a further diminishing of the UKs international importance, together with some risk of Scotland breaking apart.

[throwaway6734]

None of the situations we face today are remotely close to the difficulty to those faced by the Romans at the end of the western empire