Britain’s crisis deepened Monday as British and EU officials scrambled to deal with the shock of British voters’ decision to leave the European Union, plunging the country into what some describe as its worst disarray since World War II.
Hoping to head off further turbulence at the opening of markets Monday, British Finance Minister George Osborne made an early morning statement saying the British economy is fundamentally strong and Britain “remains open for business.”
In early trading Monday, markets in Europe were losing ground, but not like the dips seen Friday when London’s FTSE 100 nosedived by 8 percent before recovering somewhat and closing down just over three percent. The British pound dropped again in early trading.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was due in London Monday in an effort to mediate deep divides and offer U.S. support. Kerry was in Rome Sunday for talks on the stalled Middle East peace process and added stops in Brussels and London at the last minute to deal with the Brexit crisis.
“The most important thing is that all of us, as leaders, work together to provide as much continuity, as much stability, as much certainty as possible in order for the marketplace to understand that there are ways to minimize disruption, there are ways to smartly move ahead in order to protect the values and interests that we share in common," Kerry said Sunday.
On the continent, calls by founding members of the EU for Britain to get out quickly were being tempered by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has called for a civil, organized exit. Her chief of staff, Peter Altmaier, said “Politicians in London should take the time to reconsider the consequences of the Brexit decision - but by that I emphatically do not mean Brexit itself,” stemming speculation heard since the vote that Britain might reverse its decision.
A reversal is technically possible. Thursday’s ballot asked voters the simple question of whether Britain should leave or remain in the European Union, and it serves as an advisory, non-binding measure on which the government may or may not take action. Analysts, however, said a second referendum on the matter is highly unlikely.
Voter turnout was 72 percent, the highest in a national poll since 1992.
To trigger the exit process and begin negotiations for a departure, the government must invoke Article 50 of the EU treaty. Who will do that and when remained a question Monday as Britain struggled through its most severe political crisis in memory.
Following Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron’s planned resignation, it remains unclear who will take over and begin the exit process. In the Labour Party, calls grew Monday for the resignation of party leader Jeremy Corbyn after 12 members of his shadow Cabinet resigned.
“There continues to be a sort of civil war inside the government party, the Conservatives, while at the same time Labour party is in even worse condition and presents no realistic possibility of being an alternative government so that means the whole political system is really relying on the continuity provided by history,” said Tony Travers, a politics professor at the London School of Economics.
“This is a very unusual time for the UK and nobody should pretend otherwise,” he told VOA.
Tensions were worsened by reports of hateful behavior against immigrants. London Metropolitan Police said they were investigating “allegedly racially motivated” attacks on immigrants, including the scribbling of graffiti on the main Polish cultural center in West London’s Hammersmith area.
Some residents reported finding cards that read “No More Polish Vermin,” in their mailboxes.
Police drew no conclusions on a link between the incidents and the Brexit vote at this stage.
Tensions and uncertainty have been high among Britain’s immigrant communities since the vote, since the issue of immigration was a key issue driving many of those who voted to leave the EU.
via Voice of America http://ift.tt/2940fII
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