Britain Votes To Leave EU, David Cameron Quits As Global Financial Markets Fluctuate

The long-awaited referendum on whether the United Kingdom should stay in the European Union (EU) or leave has finally been decided.

The referendum was held on Thursday. By Friday morning, full results show that 17,410,742 people – representing 52% – have voted to leave the EU. 16,141,241 people – representing 48% – have voted to stay in the Union.

According to the BBC, the referendum turnout was 71.8%. More than 30 million people voted. It is the highest turnout at a United Kingdom-wide vote since 1992.

Details of the vote show that London, Scotland and Northern Ireland voted overwhelmingly to stay in the EU. But the rest of the Kingdom voted to leave.

Commentators say the United Kingdom will become the first country to leave the EU since its formation. However, the Leave vote does not mean Britain will immediately cease to be a member of the Union – it is said the process could take a minimum of two years to complete.

The United Kingdom Independent Party leader, Nigel Farage, who has been campaigning for more than 20 years for Britain to leave the EU, described the results of the vote as “independence day” for Britain. He told cheering supporters: “this will be a victory for ordinary people, for decent people.”

In comparison, Prime Minister David Cameron was not a happy man. He had campaigned vigorously for a Remain vote. In the wake of the defeat, at about 07:15 GMT on Friday morning, Mr Cameron announced that he will be stepping down as prime minister.

He said he had officially informed the Queen of his decision to remain in place for the short term, but would be handing over his position to a new prime minister by October 2016. He also revealed it would be for the new prime minister to carry out negotiations with the EU, and invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which would give the United Kingdom two years to negotiate its withdrawal from the EU.

Almost in tears, and flanked by his wife at number 10 Downing Street, Mr Cameron said: “The British people have voted to leave the European Union and their will must be respected. The will of the British people is an instruction that must be delivered. I do not think it would be right for me to be the captain that steers our country to its next destination.”

Commentators predict that Boris Johnson, a former mayor of London, is likely to take over from Mr Cameron in October. Mr Johnson was the public face of the Vote Leave campaign. Johnson said the vote to leave has proved that the British public is ready to take their destinies into their own hands.

Reuters reports that before the vote, world leaders including Barack Obama, Chinese President Xi Jinping, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, NATO and Commonwealth governments had all urged Britain to vote to stay in the EU.

After the vote, the first minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, said the referendum shows that the people of Scotland see their future as part of the European Union.

Nicola’s predecessor, Alex Salmond, also said Scotland was now likely to push for a second independence referendum, after voting against seceding in 2014. From these statements, observers believe the United Kingdom is at risk of splitting.

For 40 yrs #UK relation with #EU was ambiguous. Now it’s clear. Will of voters must be respected. Now need speedy & clear exit negotiation

— EP President (@EP_President) June 24, 2016

The EU’s top leaders have also responded to the vote, saying the United Kingdom should take immediate steps to leave the Union as soon as possible. At emergency talks in Brussels on Friday morning, the presidents of the European council, commission and parliament said in a joint statement: “This is an unprecedented situation, but we are united in our response.”

Meanwhile, on the global financial markets, things have changed fast as a result of the vote in the United Kingdom.

The British Pound has fallen about 10% against the United States Dollar. Financial analysts say this is the first time the Pound has fallen against the Dollar at this rate since 1985.

Also, world stocks are headed for one of the biggest slumps on record. Billions of United States Dollars have been reportedly wiped off the value of European companies.

According to Reuters, Britain’s big banks have taken a $130 billion battering, with Lloyds (LLOY.L) and Barclays (BARC.L) falling as much as 30 percent at the opening of trade. [MKTS/GLOB].

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