Does Article 50 activate automatically based on the Brexit vote results or does it have to be invoked? What if it never is? Will everything revert to the way it was? How?

Article 50 has to be invoked. I don't know what would happen if it was not invoked. I would guess if the UK announced we had changed our minds about withdrawing before invoking article 50, then the whole thing could be forgotten about.

I'm kinda wondering if that is what will happen. I'm sure no one had a clue what voting to leave the EU would generate and I think it frankly scared the bejesus out of everyone and now they're gonna figure out a way to go back to what was before more damage is done. I don't know though. Thank you for your reply HarryD and Happy Sunday. All I do know as an outside observer is that it is a humongous mess at the moment. I know. I'm very good at stating the obvious m'dear!  :)

I suggest go visit our good and reliable friend Google, and search "read Article 50".

However, I know that with your being a lib you will not do that, so I serve it to you on a silver platter.

Source: http://www.lisbon-treaty.org/wcm/the-lisbon-treaty/treaty-on-European-union-and-comments/title-6-final-provisions/137-article-50.html

Text: 

1. Any Member State may decide to withdraw from the Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements.

2. A Member State which decides to withdraw shall notify the European Council of its intention. In the light of the guidelines provided by the European Council, the Union shall negotiate and conclude an agreement with that State, setting out the arrangements for its withdrawal, taking account of the framework for its future relationship with the Union. That agreement shall be negotiated in accordance with Article 218(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. It shall be concluded on behalf of the Union by the Council, acting by a qualified majority, after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament.

3. The Treaties shall cease to apply to the State in question from the date of entry into force of the withdrawal agreement or, failing that, two years after the notification referred to in paragraph 2, unless the European Council, in agreement with the Member State concerned, unanimously decides to extend this period.

4. For the purposes of paragraphs 2 and 3, the member of the European Council or of the Council representing the withdrawing Member State shall not participate in the discussions of the European Council or Council or in decisions concerning it.

A qualified majority shall be defined in accordance with Article 238(3)(b) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

5. If a State which has withdrawn from the Union asks to rejoin, its request shall be subject to the procedure referred to in Article 49.

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If you read Article 50, and if you have been paying any attention to the news, you would be aware that the referendum does not constitute any "notification" of the European Council. It simply represents an indication of the will of the people, by a simple majority, to leave. It is up to the UK government to formally notify the European Council in accordance with constitutional requirements, at which point the two-year clock starts ticking and terms of exit are to be negotiated. If that notification does not occur then Britain remains in the EU. Nothing will revert, since there was no action in the first place.

Oh, shut up, delivering, this lib-bashing of yours is getting boring! Don't forget, I live in the country, so I know a damn site more about this than you do! I have heard the clauses of article fifty quoted on news bulletins - we all have! The latest development is, a law firm acting on behalf of a group of business leaders has pointed out that parliament cannot legally invoke article fifty without an act of parliament. Which I would have guessed, anyway. Frankly, delivering, I don't see why you can't just accept that both liberals and conservatives want the best for their countries, or the wider world, but have different points of view, and have a reasoned debate, instead of doing all this "liberals are always wrong, and conservatives are always right" crap. I have never suggested that conservatives are always wrong. Far from it. Which party over here do you think I usually vote for? I'll give you a clue, pillock. It has never been Labour. Ever. I doubt if anyone who came to voting age around the winter of discontent, as I did, has ever voted for them!

:):):) You tell 'em m'dear! Give 'em WHAT FOR! Good job HarryD! :)