"Once we're out, that's it, whatever you want to pretend."

Idiotic and inaccurate statement.

We most certainly will be out of the EU once Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty has been put in motion. That does not necessarily mean that we will be out of Europe.

Having triggered Article 50 and having left the EU there is nothing that stops us reapplying for membership at some point in the future although I cannot for the life of me think why we would ever want to do that.

The "doom'n'gloom" predictions have all proved false, our economy continues to grow and outperform that of the EU, who over the past five years have not managed to solve any of their underlying problems. I wouldn't pay too much attention to the pronouncements of Merkel or Hollande as neither might be in power come the time we actually leave. The EU is in dire need of reform and has been in that state for decades yet it has not budged one inch (or 2.54cm) down that route to reform itself. The greatest fear of the EU Commission at the moment is who else is going to follow the UK's lead and leave next.