Britain votes to leave EU in historic divorce; pound suffers biggest fall
London: Supporters of leaving the European Union seized the lead on Friday in the vote count from Britain’s bitterly contested referendum, setting sterling on track for its biggest ever fall on world markets.
The British currency fell as much nine percent to a 30-year-low below $1.35, marking a sharper dive even than on ‘Black Wednesday’ in 1992 when financier George Soros was instrumental in pushing the pound out of the Exchange Rate Mechanism that predated the euro.
In a mark of international concern, Japan’s top currency diplomat Masatsugu Asakawa said he would consult with Finance Minister Taro Aso on how to respond to the market movements, describing them as very rough.
Bookmakers adjusted their odds to reflect the likelihood of a ‘Brexit’, with the Betfair Internet betting exchange putting that probability at 94 percent as tallies showed the Leave camp doing better than expected across large swathes of the country.
Such an outcome would shake the European Union to its core, potentially fuelling the rise of anti-EU movements across the continent and marking the start of a two-year divorce process that would create uncertainty for companies and investors.
With results declared from 282 of 382 voting districts plus parts of Northern Ireland, Leave was ahead by 51.6 percent to 48.4 in the referendum.
A ballot box is opened for counting at the Titanic Exhibition Centre in Belfast, Northern Ireland, as counting gets underway in the referendum on the UK membership of the European Union. (Photo: AP)
“I now dare to dream that the dawn is coming up on an independent United Kingdom,” Nigel Farage, leader of the anti-EU UK Independence Party said. He called on Prime Minister David Cameron to resign immediately in the event of a Leave vote.
Cameron had urged Britons to vote Remain, warning that the alternative was a leap in the dark that would hurt trade and investment, bring about a self-inflicted recession, undermine the pound and push up shopping bills and the cost of holidays.
Advocates of going it alone said a ‘Brexit’ would invigorate the economy by freeing business from suffocating EU bureaucracy, and allow the country to recover its sovereignty and regain control of immigration.
Britain’s 27 EU partners are anxiously watching the vote, fearing the departure of the bloc’s second biggest economy would weaken Europe’s unity and influence as it grapples with the Greek financial crisis and a massive influx of refugees.
Results showed those in favour of quitting the EU were strongly outperforming pollsters’ expectations. They scored close to 70 percent of the vote in Hartlepool in northeast England and in Basildon, near London.
It was doubtful whether an expected pro-EU vote in the capital and across Scotland could redress the balance. In the London district of Haringey, 76 percent voted to remain.
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