Britain voted to end its 43-year old association with the European Union in a landmark referendum on Thursday. The country voted 52%-48% in favour of ‘Leave’ to become the first member state to exit the 28-nation European Union. Nigel Farage, leader of the eurosceptic UK Independence party called for June 23 “to go down in history as independence day.”
David Cameron, who will address the nation shortly, is now facing calls to resign as Prime Minister.
While England voted overwhelmingly for Brexit, Scotland and Northern Ireland backed Remain. Statements are expected to be made by Sinn Fein and the SNP later today calling for a breakaway from the Union. London backed Remain but the turnout was lower than expected because of bad weather
In England, every region outside of London voted to leave. The highest vote for leave was in the West Midlands with 59.11% opting for Brexit. In London, 59.94% voted to remain.
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 10% and its biggest one day fall ever.
