i know everyone is panicking rn and i am too but i’d just like to emphasize that the referendum is not actually legally binding in any way. the government is not legally required to act on the result. it’s basically just a very fancy opinion poll.
while the pressure to respect the vote of the people and the democratic process will be intense, the results were so incredibly polarizing (especially since scotland and northern ireland unequivocally voted remain and the leave result is literally solely england’s fault), and the consequences would be so devastating that there is a definitive chance the government could elect not to invoke article 50 of the lisbon treaty anyway.
they are very likely not gonna ignore it outright but they might take the issue to a parliamentary vote instead, which ironically could be argued for as the kind of parliamentary sovereignty leave voters complained brussel is taking away from the uk. if this should happen, MPs are majority pro EU and would very likely vote to remain.
considering the the pound has had its worst drop since 1985 and is still freefalling and the international stock markets were already reporting fatal crashes while a leave win was just projected, not even sure, the horrific economic effects leaving the eu would have should become clear quickly and might sober up quite a few people who didn’t (or didn’t want to) realize how catastrophic the result would be.