Originally Posted by Ignitionnet

I think an amicable divorce would be fine. I live near my neighbours, we lend each other things, buy and sell items and indeed services from one another, co-operate in community projects, but we aren't married. By a similar token political union is entirely unnecessary to free trade in Europe.

I'd also question that we have more in common with them than the Anglophone nations of Australia, Canada and, to a lesser extent, the United States, not to mention former Commonwealth states.

European states had their own identities a long time ago and while we may share roots with them Australia, Canada and the United States are more than cousins, they're the UK's grown up 'offspring'. They may have gone their own way now but similarities are unmistakable, even if in the case of the USA they've gone out of their way to shake them off.