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BBC: UK Votes To Leave The European Union (bbc.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: The UK has voted by 52% to 48% to leave the European Union after 43 years in a historic referendum, a BBC forecast suggests. London and Scotland voted strongly to stay in the EU but the remain vote has been undermined by poor results in the north of England. Voters in Wales and the English shires have backed Brexit in large numbers. The referendum turnout was 71.8% -- with more than 30 million people voting -- the highest turnout since 1992. London has voted to stay in the EU by around 60% to 40%. However, no other region of England has voted in favor of remaining. Britain would be the first country to leave the EU since its formation -- but a leave vote will not immediately mean Britain ceases to be a member of the 28-nation bloc. That process could take a minimum of two years, with Leave campaigners suggesting during the referendum campaign that it should not be completed until 2020 -- the date of the next scheduled general election. The prime minister will have to decide when to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which would give the UK two years to negotiate its withdrawal. Once Article 50 has been triggered a country can not rejoin without the consent of all member states. British Prime Minister David Cameron is under pressure to resign as a result of the decision. UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage called on him to quit "immediately." One labor source said, "If we vote to leave, Cameron should seriously consider his position." Several pro-Leave Conservatives including Boris Johnson and Michael Gove have signed a letter to Mr. Cameron urging him to stay no matter the decision. Mr. Cameron did say he would trigger Article 50 as soon as possible after a leave vote.
Update 6/24 09:33 GMT: David Cameron has resigned.
Update 6/24 09:33 GMT: David Cameron has resigned.
Especially idiot Cameron: he played with fire for so long, surfing the xenophobic and ultra-liberal wave until it exploded right under his nose. May the burns itch forever.
Good riddance.
For the uninformed, the EU is undemocratic: no legislation can be passed without the say-so of unelected bureaucrats (the European Commission) which voters cannot feasibly remove from power (because the system for appointing them is highly indirect and opaque). Much opposition to the EU stems from this. UK democracy isn't perfect (e.g. voting isn't proportional, and the unelected House of Lords can delay legislation) but voters can and do change the government and change policy direction through the ballot box.
perl -e 'fork||print for split//,"hahahaha"'
Northern Ireland has the potential to be an absolute cluster fuck. There are still hardcore elements here who are literally violently in favour of a United Ireland or a United Kingdom, any suggestion of leaving the UK with inflame those old tensions. The pro-UK vote could get split between a non-EU England/Wales and an EU-Scotland.
NI has done disproportionately well from the EU but we're small fish in the UK, I seriously doubt we'll get the same support now.
The Greeks very predictably couldn't run their own country....What was the rest of the EU supposed to do? Just give them money endlessly with no consequences or responsibility to change their ways?
The reasonable alternative would have been to allow Greece to declare bankrupcy and allow those banks who invested in Greece to fail.
No, it wasn't. It was restructured for a longer payoff and is still unsustainable. During the last year's standoff, the Troika dangled a carrot of 20% write-off - it failed to materialize, even though Greece imposed austerity on the level that has not been seen in a peacetime in Europe.
Not really. It was pretty clear that exit from Euro was considered a high treason.
And again, it's immaterial. EU has shown that if your government makes a mistake (or even if it doesn't - see "Spain") and you fall on hard times, then instead of getting help you will be beaten into a pulp and left to be picked up by vultures.
No, it means that I can work un any EU country without a hassle if I am un the mood for that. It also means that i can retire to any EU country and still enjoy the same benefits and medical services as the citizens. And I will probably retire to Slovakia - low cost of living, beautiful nature and I like slavic languages, except polish that is.
"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
The European Union is not a state, but it has its shortcomings, though. For example, most EU citizens don't really know who prepares the laws, how these people are chosen or elected (often not even elected), how do EU laws affect national drafting of laws and so forth. Even the good things' origin, such as the benefits of a single market, are not known, and people don't realize that it's the EU that allows them to order pretty much anything from another EU country over the Internet without any more hassle than what they would have if they ordered it locally.
I reckon Scotland will be leaving the UK soon and might join the EU as a sovereign state later on. The fate of Northern Ireland is a big question mark, but they're obviously not happy with the UK leaving and this might start a similar political movement there too.
-SR
Well, all these things happened after Greeks mismanaged their country to get into this situation. As desirable as a more lenient approach from Germany and others would be, it won't change Greek history of the 2000s.
Ezekiel 23:20
Had Greece been out of the EU, they could have devalued their currency and/or defaulted on their debts. After a couple of years of turmoil they could have achieved sustainable growth.
While I agree with the first part, I can't see how you can get the second from it. Have you ever worked/lived in Greece, or tried to run a company there? I'd rather try running a company in Nigeria, it has the same level of dysfunctionality and corruption but at least it's out in the open, and you can buy your way past any obstacles. In Greece, everything is unfuriatingly broken but you also typically can't buy your way past the obstacles (exceptions being for medical treatment and similar). I honestly don't know how you can fix that country short of some sort of reformat-and-reinstall.
I'm not saying this to bash Greece, just that having experienced it as a business environment I can't imagine how you'd fix it, there's just no easy solution I can think of.
Scotland (which recently voted to stay in Great Britain because they were told they would drop out of the EU if they left the UK) and Northern Ireland voted to stay in. England and Wales voted to get out.
So Small Britain, or the United Kingdom of England and Wales, will leave the EU.
Probably, we will see Northern Ireland join the Irish Republic and Scotland to become independent during the next 2 years.
You really don't know what you're talking about, I suspect you know very little about the regions and their preferences, there's far more at play than whether or not they want to be in the EU. The one thing you might be right about is Scotland having another independence vote, and winning - but this won't leave them inside the EU, it doesn't work like that. They'd have to join as a new country.
Norway has oil, oil and ... oil. Switzerland has banks, banks and ... banks. You simply can't compare Norway with any other country. Norway is the Saudi Arabia of the north and just gives away free money to its citizens in the form of a national fund. Switzerland is also a country you can't compare. It was the only stable country during the 19th and 20th centuries. All other countries have either been invaded or have been in civil wars. Switzerland was neutral, had a booming banking sector for centuries and has been able to profit from all corrupt regimes and wars since the early 19th century. Their neutrality and of course touristic country is what made them rich. Of course they would not vote to throw all this away to join the EU.
Other European countries all profited from the single market, but also suffered from the single currency and the weird laws. The UK has fallen to populism. I really never thought the Brexit campaign would be successful. Yes, there are many things wrong with the EU. Too much super state, too little connection with its population. But populist nationalism? This is never the answer to make things better. But the fault is with the current elites who just do everything the population doesn't want. But in the US it is the same. Democrats who do a childish 24 hour sit down in the parliament (or whatever it is called)? I would never vote for such a bunch of kids, but the alternative today is ... Trump. Well how many Americans will be convinced to not vote when they are democrat by this childish act? And how many swingers will now vote for Trump? If Trump becomes president it is not the fault of the 'racist dumb voters' but of the 'rich educated but ignorant and 'look down upon the average guy' establishment', just like in the UK today.
Geert Wilders, Marie Le Pen, and other extreme right wing or left wing totalitarian politicians are now applauding the Brexit, hoping to destroy the EU and return to the early 20th century, competing on a Darwinian capitalistic way with all means possible including devaluation, tax on imports, .... I hope the stupid establishment will finally listen to the public and immediately stop this multicultural experiment of mass immigration of the third world. We can't even take care of our elderly people. How will we be able to take care for people who can't read or speak the language and still believe in medieval logic. It's this trying to do good and not evil that has given rise to totalitarian left wing and extreme right... (but it is humane, nobody is illegal, everyone deserves a chance, ....)
Huh what? GDP from 1960s until today, please do tell when we had a "decade long recession".
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
The picture emerging this morning on social media from friends that had so far kept quiet is that this a kick in the balls for the establishment.
Pro-tip: The instant you say "SJW", people stop reading what you're writing.
Did he just go crazy and fall asleep?
Ah, yes, the intellectual royalty has come to tell the peasants how wrong they are. Democracy must suck.
Meanwhile, UK trade with the EU will continue full force. UK trade with Asia and the US will be unaffected, and so on.
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
Sure, go ahead. mod me troll
The EU allows for free movement between countries,
Which is also a requirement for joining the European free trade union.
and is also forcing countries to take in some of these migrants.
Oh really? Read and weep. It has nothing to do with the EU. UK would still take refugees after leaving EU.
All hope abandon ye who enter here.