".because the terms of the Referendum question were so broad,"
It was "Do you want the UK to remain as a member or leave the EU?" Nothing broad about it at all. A clear and concise question with only two possible answers.
What we are talking about on these seemingly interminable (and very premature) threads are not terms for our leaving. They are terms for our future relationship with the EU after we have left. There are no terms to be imposed on our leavingand nobody seems to be suggesting that our leaving is conditional on successful negotiations.
As I said in a very early question (last Friday or Saturday, I think) we could leave tomorrow. The EU could do nothing about it (except perhaps take action through the European Court of Justice under whose jurisdiction we would no longer fall). But we won't for two reasons; (1) The UK does not renege on its treaty obligations and we are bound by Lisbon to giver proper notice and (2) It is in nobody’s interest for us to chuck our toys from the pram and stomp away in a huff.
I agree, sp, there will be compromises to be reached. But I don’t believe any government will compromise on the key issues that made 52% of the electorate vote to leave. The worst that the EU can do is deny us future access to their single market (and consequently them to ours). That would a severe blow (to both sides) but business continues with or without government co-operation. But if it means we must go down that road then we must. Khandro’s excellent post sums up the UK’s position quite clearly. Democracy matters. It is the EU’s democratic deficit, which that wretched, sclerotic institution simply fails to even acknowledge, let alone address, that has caused all this.