Quite a hybrid has formed of anti-elite, populist and nationalist sentiment

[Person 2713]

“Dare to dream that the dawn is breaking on an independent United Kingdom,” Nigel Farage, the leader of the U.K. Independence Party, one of the primary forces behind the push for a referendum on leaving the European Union, told cheering supporters just after 4 a.m., denouncing the “lies, corruption and deceit” that he said elites in both major parties — Conservative and Labour — had peddled.

Although leaders of the Leave campaign spoke earnestly about sovereignty and the supremacy of Parliament or in honeyed tones about “the bright sunlit uplands” of Britain’s future free of Brussels, it was anxiety about immigration — membership in the European Union means freedom of movement and labor throughout the bloc — that defined and probably swung the campaign.

Britain will become the first country to leave the 28-member bloc, which has been increasingly weighed down by its failures to deal fully with a succession of crises, from the financial collapse of 2008 to a resurgent Russia and the massive influx of migrants last year.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/24/world/europe/britain-brexit-european-union-referendum.html?ribbon-ad-idx=3&rref=world/europe&module=Ribbon&version=context&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Europe&pgtype=article

[bemildred]

1. The 20th century was not kind to empires, the 21st looks to be even worse. nt

[orwell]

2. Welcome to...

...the Revolution 2.0.

[Nitram]

3. Or the Devolution.

A united Europe is a powerful force for peace.

[Igel]

4. Oh, more like 8 or 9.

American.

French.

1848.

Surely the Soviet Revolution was one.

Hitler's was a revolution.

Mao.

The colored revolutions. (Not including the green revolution, which was something else entirely.)

Chavez.

Let's face it, revolution's not batting a thousand.

[bemildred]

5. So long George Osborne, the so-called master strategist

with things that might make him look unpopular, so much so that he has been dubbed the “Submarine Chancellor”. Backing Remain in the EU referendum was always going to be a risk for him, especially when he did it with such gusto. Mr Osborne – the supposed “master strategist” - has gambled on it and lost. Does this mean his career has hit the end of the road?

Any well-known Tory will now be considering their career prospects as David Cameron has fired the starting gun on the race to replace him. The Prime Minister signalled that his successor would have to negotiate the terms of Britain’s EU exit, so Brexit-backing candidates will automatically be at an advantage.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/24/so-long-george-osborne-the-so-called-master-strategist/

[bemildred]

6. How the pollsters got it wrong on the EU referendum

It wasn’t just a bad night for Europhiles and David Cameron, but also for pollsters, who misread the mood of the electorate in the run-up to the vote.

Of 168 polls carried out since the EU referendum wording was decided last September, fewer than a third (55 in all) predicted a leave vote.

The actual result on the night came in at 51.9% leave, 48.1% remain. Just 16 of 168 individual polls predicted a 52:48 split in favour of leave.

Polls did give a sense of the swing to leave in the first weeks of June, but edged back to favour remain in the final days before the vote. Just two of six polls released the day before the referendum – those carried out TNS and Opinium – gave leave the edge.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/24/how-eu-referendum-pollsters-wrong-opinion-predict-close

[bemildred]

7. Brexit Vote Could Unravel Not Just the European Union, but the United Kingdom Too

As it became clear, early Friday morning, that Britons had voted to leave the European Union, a far-right nationalist politician, Nigel Farage, told cheering supporters that the goal of his once-fringe United Kingdom Independence Party had finally been met.

“Dare to dream that the dawn is breaking on an independent United Kingdom,” Farage declared. The victory, he added, was one for “honesty, decency and belief in nation,” achieved, “without a single bullet being fired.”

That last claim struck a nerve with those for whom the defining event of the referendum campaign was the horrifying assassination, with three bullets, of Jo Cox, an internationalist, pro-European legislator whose killer shouted “Britain first” and “Keep Britain independent,” as he shot and stabbed her to death.

Farage and his colleagues were quickly congratulated by the leaders of nationalist, far-right parties in the Netherlands and France, Geert Wilders and Marine Le Pen, who both called for similar referendums in their countries.

https://theintercept.com/2016/06/24/brexit-vote-could-unravel-not-just-the-european-union-but-the-united-kingdom-too/?menu=1

[bemildred]

8. Britain bests Brussels

Contrary to all expectations, including last-minute voter surveys, Britain voted to leave the European Community by a margin of 52-48, or more than 850,000 votes, BBC and Sky News forecast at 5:00 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time. Midnight trading in financial markets produced record swings in currency and security prices, with gold up nearly $100 just before 5:00 a.m. and the British pound trading at just $1.33 to the dollar, down from $1.50 before the voting began.

This is NOT a global financial crisis. The hissing sound you hear is the air leaving various financial bubbles, but this is not 2008 all over again.

The British corporate sector has a strong balance sheet. Among the companies in the FTSE 100 equity index, net debt is only twice earnings before interest and taxes, slightly more than the S&P 500. Italian companies by contrast have net debt at nearly 8 times earnings before interest and taxes. The record fall in the pound sterling brings its exchange rate against the Euro to precisely where it was in 2014, before the pound rose against the European unit along with the US dollar. It’s a long-need correction that will benefit the British economy, which has suffered from an overvalued currency.

Financial authorities around the world warned of dire consequences were Britain to leave the Euro, but it’s hard to see what these might be. Britain’s auto industry is mostly owned by German companies, who will not stop producing or buying cars made in their British plants. The 2008 collapse had already cleaned most of the fluff out of the City of London, which shed more than 130,000 jobs in the years after the crisis. The global ambitions of European banks are long since gone and it is unlikely that a great deal of financial business will leave the already-shrunken City.

http://atimes.com/2016/06/britain-bests-brussels/

[bemildred]

9. EU referendum: Brexit sparks calls for other EU votes

France's National Front leader Marine Le Pen said the French must now also have the right to choose.

Dutch anti-immigration politician Geert Wilders said the Netherlands deserved a "Nexit" vote while Italy's Northern League said: "Now it's our turn".

The UK voted by 52% to 48% to leave the EU after 43 years. David Cameron has announced he will step down as PM.

Global stock markets fell heavily on the news and the value of the pound has also fallen dramatically.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36615879

[bemildred]

10. From Edinburgh to Gibraltar, Brexit vote sparks new claims

Within hours of Britons voting to leave the European Union, politicians in Scotland, Ireland and Spain raced on Friday to argue that the historic move bolstered claims over long-disputed parts of British territory.

In a referendum outcome that triggered Prime Minister David Cameron's resignation and record losses for sterling on foreign exchange markets, British voters chose by 52-48 percent to end the country's 43-year-old membership of the EU.

The move also threatened to strain the fabric of the 215-year-old United Kingdom itself. Scottish and Northern Irish nationalist politicians said it underlined just how different they were, while a Spanish official said Madrid would seek "co-sovereignty" of Gibraltar on the Spanish coast.

"Scotland has delivered a strong, unequivocal vote to remain in the EU, and I welcome that endorsement of our European status," First Minister and Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon said of a local Scottish vote that was 62-38 percent in favor of remaining in the 28-nation bloc.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-kingdom-idUSKCN0ZA1SI