Sometimes, you don't really see it coming.
I'll admit, I was wrong in assuming that the British would vote to remain a part of the European Union. That the reports of this being a tight race, to the point that it was just too close to call.
But as I followed it through the night, it became clear that the Brexit vote had won, and that Brits apparently wanted to leave the European Union.
And then, all sorts of other scenarios came into play. Prime Minister David Cameron resigned. Scotland is apparently going to have another referendum on independence. And now, Northern Ireland will have a referendum on becoming part of a unified Ireland.
That's a lot for just one night, from just one vote!
So, how did it all happen this way?
Well, the most understandable is Prime Minister Cameron resigning by the fall. In Europe, after some huge political failure, leaders actually will resign following a spectacular failure, unlike here in America. So, Cameron had staked his entire career, essentially, on the vote to remain in the EU. When that failed, so had he, and so it was time for him to step down.
Then, we look at Scotland. Scotland voted 62% to 38% to remain within the EU, marking a clear distinction between Scots and the rest of Great Britain. And so, here comes another referendum on independence.
Likewise, support for remaining within the EU was quite a bit higher in Northern Ireland then in the rest of Great Britain, and so Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness has called for a border poll on uniting the two Irelands into one.
That's a lot of amazing news all in one night!
Now, I'm not going to lie: I was hoping that the British people would vote to remain in Europe. That said, I kind of saw something like this coming, although I did not think it was necessarily going to be Great Britain, and I did not think it was going to happen now. But within the next few years, some country or other making history by leaving the European Union seemed very likely. One wonders just what the process will be now to have a nation leave the European Union, and if this will propel other countries to go ahead and leave, as well.
Not surprisingly, the British pound and economic markets sank, and I am guessing that this will be a common trend throughout this day, in particular, as the backlash to the shocking results continue.
Obviously, there are still a lot of ramifications on this just absolutely huge story, so we need to stay tuned!
Live EU referendum results live: Brexit wins as Britain votes to leave European Union by Michael Wilkinson, 24 JUNE 2016:
Live EU referendum live: David Cameron resigns as UK shocks the world by voting for Brexit Michael Wilkinson, political correspondent 24 JUNE 2016
EU referendum result: Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness calls for border poll on united Ireland after Brexit by Siobhan Fenton, June 24, 2016:
No comments:
Post a Comment