New York - The United Kingdom is on the verge of leaving the European Union as the Leave is taking the lead according to the latest results based on 85.3 percent of votes.
New York – The United Kingdom is on the verge of leaving the European Union as the Leave is taking the lead according to the latest results based on 85.3 percent of votes.
The latest available data show that the Leave are ahead by over 850,000 votes, with the English shires and Wales voting strongly for Brexit.
As of 5.15 am local time, the Leave was taking the lead with 51.7 percent to 48.3 for the Remain.
Major news outlets, such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the BBC have all announced the historic win of the Leave. The Washington Post described the referendum’s result as “stunning.”
Polls conducted ahead of the referendum showed that either party was in position to secure a win. The United Kingdom will be the first country to leave the EU since the European block was created in 1957.
UKIP leader Nigel Farage described the Leave victory as a “new independence day for the United Kingdom. “Let June 23 go down in our history as our independence day,” he was quoted by the BBC as saying.
“If the predictions are right, this will be a victory for real people, a victory for ordinary people, and a victory for decent people,” he added.
The first immediate consequence of the UK’s decision to leave the EU is a steep drop of the British pound against the dollar. The British currency hit its lowest level since 1985. Before the referendum, economists have predicted that a vote to leave the EU would wreak havoc on the British economy, the second largest in the European block after Germany.
