EU leaders are anxious that the Brexit process should start rapidly following the UK’s referendum, which resulted in a vote to leave the union and the subsequent resignation of Prime Minister David Cameron, who had led the remain campaign. “My vote – I didn’t think was going to matter too much because I thought we were just going to remain”, he said.
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Juncker said the split was “not an amicable divorce” – adding that it was never “a tight love affair anyway”.
Earlier today, a crisis meeting was held by foreign ministers from Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg to discuss the Britain’s exit.
Scotland voted in 2014 to remain a part of the United Kingdom, but that decision was seen by many as conditional on the United Kingdom remaining in the EU.
The UK voted by 52% to 48% to leave the European Union, and David Cameron has announced he will step down as PM by October. “Politically it will be easier for the United States to influence Europe”, the editorial said. “We have to focus our common efforts on those challenges which can only be addressed by common European answers, while leaving other tasks to national or regional levels”.
“If the pound goes down, they’ll do more business”, he said at his Turnberry golf resort.
European Parliament President Martin Schulz labeled his decision to wait until October to leave “scandalous”, claiming he was “taking the whole (European) continent hostage”.
In Northern Ireland, where most voters also wanted to remain in the EU, Sinn Fein, the country’s largest Irish nationalist party, called for a vote to unite the two sides of the Irish border.
In a statement, he said he was “very disappointed”, but “what is done can not be undone”.
Corbyn, whose Labour Party backed a vote to stay in the bloc, said the areas that voted most strongly to leave are “communities that have effectively been abandoned” by economic change and the austerity policies of Britain’s Conservative government.
At one point, the website crashed after being unable to deal with the surge of traffic.
The UK parliament considers all petitions that get more than 100,000 signatures for a debate.
Ratings agency Moody’s has downgraded UK’s credit rating outlook to “negative” following Thursday’s vote.
“I do think that yesterday’s vote speaks to the ongoing changes and challenges that are raised by globalisation – but while the UK’s relationship with the European Union will change, one thing that will not change is the special relationship that exists between our two nations”.
“We must not resort to hectic activity, and act as if all the answers are ready”.
‘The country requires fresh leadership to take it in this direction, ‘ he added.
Some British commentators say the talks could be delayed even longer, possibly until after French presidential elections in 2017, as a new “Brexiteers” government holds back in hope of getting a better deal. I think it could well turn out to be a positive.
FM Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the shock vote by the British must be seen as a wake-up call.
His comments came as Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced Scotland would hold another referendum to stay within the European Union, citing the economic benefits to the partnership.
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“In that regard, it is important to stress that Britain remains a member of the European Union until negotiations have been concluded”.
