The global order is dying. But it’s an illusion to think Britain can survive without the EU

What happens when the investment banks move to Frankfurt and poor English people must pick strawberries in Kent? We have to find an alternative economic model

We've done it before. In September 1931, faced with a 25% pay cut mandated by government austerity, the Royal Navy mutinied at the Scottish port of Invergordon. Sailors on HMS Rodney refused duties, dragged a piano on deck and sang a medley of pub songs. Other ships followed. It was not exactly Battleship Potemkin - but it went on to destroy the economic order of the world.

A run on the pound began, forcing Britain to become the first major country to leave the gold standard. One after another, states abandoned gold and went for economic nationalism. The effect on Britain was benign: interest rates were slashed, austerity eased and - with the pound devalued - exports recovered. But the flight from gold killed the global economic system.

Related: Neoliberalism - the ideology at the root of all our problems

Related: How will Brexit affect Britain's trade with Europe?