Europe woke up to a shock this morning as the vote count was completed in Britain and the result — driven primarily by those in the smaller cities and villages across England and Wales — was that Britain will be filing for a divorce from the EU family.
From Huffington Post UK:
The UK’s vote for Brexit in the EU Referendum means we are no longer the fifth biggest economy in the world, according to reports, as the result wiped £122 billion off the value of the FTSE 100 within minutes.
It will take months — if not years — of paperwork and negotiation for the divorce to be finalized, and it’s too early to say what an EU-less Britain, and a Britain-less EU, might look like. However, the simple fact that the ‘Leave’ side was led by a hodge-podge of right-wing nationalists and fascist neo-nazis (yes UKIP, I’m talking to you and your people), it’s not a promising road to embark upon.
Meanwhile, the results were only announced (a couple of hours ago) and already one of the leaders of the ‘Leave’ vote was backtracking on one of the core promises made during the campaign — to funnel the money that was going to the EU instead into the health service.
Predictably, after 17 million people vote #Leave, Nigel Farage basically admits the #Brexit campaign was a sham. https://t.co/5HYnSkWOdS
— D (@Delo_Taylor) June 24, 2016
As that the ‘Leave’-ers leaders were basically Britain’s version of the Trump-types, this comes as no surprise. The result itself however is quite a surprise — 72.2% voter turnout, and 51.9% voted to leave. The only areas that voted to remain were London and it’s surroundings, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
As it stands it’s too early to say what sort of effect this will have in the mid- to long- term. I’ll leave such pontificating to the Richard Branson’s of the world.
What I can report from this side of the Atlantic is the sense of shock. Living in Dublin and working in a large multi-national with people from all over EMEA, all I’ve heard all morning is ‘no way...’. Nobody thought they’d actually do it, it seems like such a stupid idea it’s almost unfathomable. Then again at the very least 12 million people support Trump, so maybe it’s time for us to reevaluate what we fathom.
More to come soon.
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Edit 11:05am GMT: Updated the poll numbers (voter turnout was incorrect)
Friday, Jun 24, 2016 · 9:34:54 AM +00:00 · misneach
Some of the personal concerns raised to me over the last couple of hours:
-[UK Citizen working in Dublin] So when will I have to apply for a work visa or be thrown out?
-[EU Citizen] My company has offices in the UK, will I start needing a visa to go over on business?
-[Singapore citizen now residing in UK] I moved my life savings to a UK bank in GBP and it has lost 10% of its value in 3 hours, what should I do?
-[Irish citizen] So will England be thrown out of Euro 2020?
(the last one made me laugh)
Friday, Jun 24, 2016 · 1:29:54 PM +00:00
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misneach
Exerpt from the Joint Statement on the Outcome of the United Kingdom Referendum, by:
Donald Tusk, President of the European Council; Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament; Mark Rutte, holder of the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU; Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission
We now expect the United Kingdom government to give effect to this decision of the British people as soon as possible, however painful that process may be. Any delay would unnecessarily prolong uncertainty. We have rules to deal with this in an orderly way. Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union sets out the procedure to be followed if a Member State decides to leave the European Union. We stand ready to launch negotiations swiftly with the United Kingdom regarding the terms and conditions of its withdrawal from the European Union. Until this process of negotiations is over, the United Kingdom remains a member of the European Union, with all the rights and obligations that derive from this. According to the Treaties which the United Kingdom has ratified, EU law continues to apply to the full to and in the United Kingdom until it is no longer a Member.
As agreed, the “New Settlement for the United Kingdom within the European Union”, reached at the European Council on 18-19 February 2016, will now not take effect and ceases to exist. There will be no renegotiation.
As regards the United Kingdom, we hope to have it as a close partner of the European Union also in the future. We expect the United Kingdom to formulate its proposals in this respect. Any agreement, which will be concluded with the United Kingdom as a third country, will have to reflect the interests of both sides and be balanced in terms of rights and obligations.”
Full text is available here.
Friday, Jun 24, 2016 · 2:41:30 PM +00:00
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misneach
From Reuters:
Left unclear is the relationship Britain can negotiate with the EU once it leaves.
To retain access to the single market, vital for its giant financial services sector, London may have to adopt all EU regulation without having a say in its shaping, contribute to Brussels coffers, and continue to allow free movement as Norway and Switzerland do - all things the Leave campaign vowed to end.