So...Brexit.

[EricKei]

You all knew this was coming. The UK voted in favor of leaving the EU, albeit in a ~52 to 48% vote, prompting the PM to resign.

Side note -- At least some exit polls suggest that older citizens were overwhelmingly in favor of leaving, while younger people -- the ones who will have to deal with it for a much greater period of time -- were overwhelmingly against it.

Thoughts?

[Kheldarson]

I wonder if this won't be the first event future historians point to as the beginnings of a new World War. Jingoism and racism seem to be leading the way this year.

Also, all major economic indicators have tanked with this move. Have to wonder what the effect of that will be and how long it will take to recover.

[s_stabeler]

I think it's a shame, but ultimately, the UK has spoken, and we have said we want to leave the EU. Ultimately, the effects will depend on what happens next- we now need to negotiate exactly what our new relationship with the EU is, which is why stocks have fallen. it's uncertain what the economic outlook will be- since we don't know what the terms of our relationship with europe will be.

It also doesn't help that Cameron has resigned as PM. As such, there is uncertainty about who will succeed him and what their policies will be.

[mjr]

I didn't think Cameron officially resigned. He announced that he would be resigning in October. But I guess that's enough to spook people.

I also read somewhere this morning that the official "separation" from the EU will "take decades". I don't know how much truth there is to that, though.

I don't know how accurate it is, but the Dow in New York is showing up 200+ points, as of yesterday. The S&P 500 was up almost 28. That will obviously change during the day, though, because I'm reading that the Dow will drop somewhere like 500 points as soon as trading opens.

[HYHYBT]

Why did he resign?

I just hope it wasn't close enough that the weather really did change the outcome.

[mjr]

Why did he resign?

I just hope it wasn't close enough that the weather really did change the outcome.

That's possible. It was basically a 52-48 vote. Here's a map:

http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/24/europe...itain-divided/

Scotland, Northern Ireland, and London voted majority "remain".

Everyone else voted majority "leave".

[Kheldarson]

Scotland, Northern Ireland, and London voted majority "remain".

There's talk of Scotland holding another vote for independence, thanks to this.

[mjr]

There's talk of Scotland holding another vote for independence, thanks to this.

Yeah, I read about that, too. I wonder how long it would be before they try. Will it be next year, or a few years from now? It'll be interesting to see.

[s_stabeler]

I didn't think Cameron officially resigned. He announced that he would be resigning in October. But I guess that's enough to spook people.

His announcement as a resignation speech, it's just that it will take until October for the Conservative Party to elect his successor, so he's a caretaker PM until then. Sort of like how the government stays in place after Parliament is dismissed for an election until the new Government is formed.

I wonder if this won't be the first event future historians point to as the beginnings of a new World War. Jingoism and racism seem to be leading the way this year.

I doubt it. The issues that caused the World Wars were basically countries trying to gain either de facto or de jure control over other countries, and a web of alliances that pulled in the entirety of europe. In this case, the EU is accepting that the UK wants out, so there's nothing to argue over to cause a war. The UK wants to negotiate to preserve some of the benefits of EU membership, but it's generally accepted the EU has the final say. As such, there's no casus belli for war to break out.

[mjr]

His announcement as a resignation speech, it's just that it will take until October for the Conservative Party to elect his successor, so he's a caretaker PM until then. Sort of like how the government stays in place after Parliament is dismissed for an election until the new Government is formed.

Ah, ok. Thanks for the clarification.

[mjr]

Wow...apparently some in the British community are now Googling the EU after the fact to see what it is.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/...dn5?li=BBnbcA1

[Canarr]

I think it's a shame, but ultimately, the UK has spoken, and we have said we want to leave the EU.

One might wish they'd done their homework *before* speaking, not after.

Here's a Google Trend overview of the Top Questions in Google. From the UK. After the vote:

https://twitter.com/GoogleTrends/sta...03118820937728

Honestly, it looks a lot like a bunch of scared old people getting conned by UKIP into taking a short-sighted path.

[Kheldarson]

I doubt it. The issues that caused the World Wars were basically countries trying to gain either de facto or de jure control over other countries, and a web of alliances that pulled in the entirety of europe. In this case, the EU is accepting that the UK wants out, so there's nothing to argue over to cause a war. The UK wants to negotiate to preserve some of the benefits of EU membership, but it's generally accepted the EU has the final say. As such, there's no casus belli for war to break out.

More meant if things continue down the racist and isolationist path we're seeing countries go down.

[TheHuckster]

Wow...apparently some in the British community are now Googling the EU after the fact to see what it is.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/...dn5?li=BBnbcA1

Some might be legitimate voters who should have done the research beforehand (although such a thing should be common knowledge), but some may also be grade school students who had homework assignments.

It also has nothing about how many people made this search. Yes, it's a top search topic specifically about the EU, but that could still mean merely a few thousand versus half their country.

[Greenday]

I think it's a shame, but ultimately, the UK has spoken

No, England has spoken. And considering England has 84% of the population of the UK, there's not much Scotland or Northern Ireland could have done.

There's talk of Scotland holding another vote for independence, thanks to this.

I heard Northern Ireland might do the same also. England just destroyed the UK.

On a side note, I have a friend in England for vacation right now. He went to the ATM the day of the vote instead of the day after. Whoops.