Out of 12 regions, only three, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and London voted to remain in the European Union, while the others led the “Leave” vote to win by a narrow margin.
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Ratings agency Moody’s said Britain was at risk of a credit downgrade, assigning a negative outlook to its “Aa1” rating for British government debt.
Global stock markets plunged on Friday, and sterling saw its biggest one day drop in more than 30 years after Britons voted by 52-48 percent to exit the European Union, which it joined more than 40 years ago.
“A catastrophic result for Britain and also for Europe and Germany, that is especially the German economy”, said Anton Boerner, head of Germany’s foreign trade association, quoted by the BBC.
European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker also insisted any delay “doesn’t make sense”. BMW said in a statement it was “clear that a new phase of uncertainty has begun”.
They also acknowledged that among the remaining 27 member states there were differing “levels of ambition” for European integration and had “to find ways to better deal with” them.
Far right, anti-EU political leaders in the Netherlands and France seized upon the outcome to intensify demands for referendums in their own countries.
Britons, many anxious about immigration and financial insecurity, cast aside Prime Minister David Cameron’s warnings of isolation and economic disaster and voted 52 percent-48 percent in favour of “Brexit” in Thursday’s referendum.
“No one should be interested in making global trade more expensive with tariffs between Great Britain and the mainland”, said Matthias Wissmann, the president of the German Association of the Automobile Industry (VDA).
“We join together in saying that this process must begin as soon as possible so we don’t end up in an extended limbo period but rather can focus on the future of Europe and the work toward it”, he told reporters.
“Citizens of Great Britain have made a decision to refuse the diktat from Brussels”. “So too is our relationship with the European Union, which has done so much to promote stability, stimulate economic growth, and foster the spread of democratic values and ideals across the continent and beyond”. Militant Islamists took to the internet to applaud the British vote, with one saying it marked the “beginning of the disintegration of the Crusaders”.
“The dawn is breaking on an independent United Kingdom”.
Sturgeon said she spoke with all European Union member states to communicate Scotland’s desire to remain in the European Union and even has discussed working to secure a form of opt-out for Scotland and London, two regions where voters strongly voiced to remain in the EU. The former London mayor stressed that Britain would not “turn our backs on Europe” and that “our children and grandchildren will continue to have a wonderful future as Europeans”.
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Scots rejected independence in 2014 by 55-45 percent. “We take this very seriously and are determined to make the European Union work better for all our citizens”, it said. In 2014, Nationalists said Scotland would prosper on revenues from North Sea oil, but since the vote prices have collapsed, raising questions over the economic viability of an independent Scotland. The petition will have to be discussed by lawmakers but has no legal force.
