Britain votes for Brexit after dramatic night leaves nation divided
LONDON. KAZINFORM - The British people have voted to leave the European Union after a historic referendum in which they rejected the advice of the main Westminster party leaders and instead took a plunge into the political unknown, The Guardian reports.
The decision in favour of Brexit, following a bitterly close electoral race, represents the biggest shock to the political establishment in Britain and across Europe for decades, and will threaten the leaderships of both the prime minister, David Cameron, and the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn.
The value of the pound swung wildly on currency markets as initial confidence among investors expecting a remain vote was dented by some of the early referendum results, triggering falls of close to 9% and hitting its lowest level against some foreign currencies since 1985. Jeremy Cook, chief economist and head of currency strategy at WorldFirst, said: "Sterling has collapsed ... It can go a lot further as well."
By 4am, a series of key results signposted a likely leave victory. After a lower-than-expected margin of victory for the remain campaign in Newcastle, where it won the backing of 54% of voters, there was a jolt after midnight when leave captured Sunderland with 61.3% of the vote in a city which has traditionally been a Labour stronghold.
Cameron is expected to address the nation from Downing Street shortly after 6am, and leaving lead campaign Boris Johnson is likely to make a statement shortly afterwards.
Speaking at a party in Westminster, the Ukip leader, Nigel Farage, declared Friday the UK's "independence day", and said the referendum result was a "victory for real people, a victory for ordinary people, a victory for decent people".
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