U.S. President Barack Obama said Friday that he is confident Britain will make “an orderly transition” out of the European Union, after the British people voted in favor of leaving the bloc.
Advertisement
“Dare to dream that the dawn is breaking on an independent United Kingdom”, said Nigel Farage, leader of the Euro-sceptic UK Independence Party, describing the European Union as “doomed and dying”. As Britain’s relationship with the European Union changes, “one thing that will not change, is the special relationship that exists between our two nations”.
Britons convincingly voted in the June 23 referendum to leave the European Union, a bombshell result that roiled world markets, forced British Prime Minister David Cameron to announce his resignation, and raised fresh doubts about the long-term viability of the now 27-member bloc.
“For many millions of people, this was not just a vote about Europe”, Mr Farron said.
The UK vote “injects more downside into the global growth outlook, and that’s the way it will play out in Canada”, said Doug Porter, chief economist at BMO Capital Markets. “If the pound goes down, they’ll do more business”, he said at his Turnberry golf resort. Under EU rules, citizens in member countries can freely move across national borders to other member countries.
In the most hard speech of his political career, he said he could no longer do the job when his vision for the country was so at odds with that of the people.
US presidential candidate Donald Trump on Friday thrust himself into the heart of the Brexit issue, calling the result of the vote a “great thing” and drawing parallels to his own insurgent campaign. Obama hopes his former secretary of state Hillary Clinton will win the November election and safeguard his legacy but any economic volatility after Brexit could hurt her chances of beating Trump. “Our NATO alliance will remain a cornerstone of global security and in a few weeks we will be meeting in Warsaw for the NATO summit”, he said.
Obama has said his involvement was justified because of the two countries’ longstanding special relationship.
With tears in his eyes, his voice cracking, the PM said: ‘I love this country, and I feel honoured to have served it and I will do everything I can in the future to help this great country succeed’. “It also underscores the need for us to pull together to solve our challenges as a country, not tear each other down”. It comes after an April trip to London in which he urged the U.S.’ strongest European ally to remain in the EU. That’s point No 1.
Advertisement
“These EU laws have been built up since the 1950s, and slowly but surely, many, many aspects of legislation in the United Kingdom has been replaced by EU law”, says Bloomberg reporter Ian Wishart. “The world wants America to lead”. Our friends in the United Kingdom are our indispensable ally and this is a very special relationship and that relationship is going to continue no matter what.
