'Brexit' – what would happen if Britain left the EU?

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After one of the weirdest UK elections in living memory, which confounded predictions of a hung parliament and returned the Conservative party to government with an overall – albeit very slim – majority, questions have inevitably turned to the prospect the “in-out” referendum on the country’s membership of the EU, as promised by Conservative leader David Cameron. In this article, The Guardian has looked at the implications of an EU exit, with an especially insightful chapter on the prospects of trade. For many of us, abandoning membership of Europe is unthinkable, but if the past week has taught us anything, it is how utterly unpredictable the British public remains.