The woes of the first 48 hours of Brexit

Palace_of_Westminster_at_sunset

Parliament at sunset. Pic credit: LSE blog

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So Britain has had its ” independence  day ” as Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage would have it. And what have been the repercussions.

In 48 hours the pound has dropped to its lowest level since 1985.

Stock markets across the world from London to Wall Street have all fallen.

The Prime Minister has announced his intention to resign before the party conference triggering a Brexit leadership contest.

Jeremy Corbyn is facing a leadership  challenge from his own MPs reinforcing the split between the Parliamentary Party from huge swathes of the membership. The shadow cabinet is now splitting as well with eleven resignations so far tonight.

Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish first minister, has said that it is ” highly likely” there will be a fresh referendum on independence from England after Scots voted in every constituency to stay.

Sinn Fein has called for a border poll as a move to a united  Ireland. Meanwhile it is pointed out that all Northern Ireland’s citizens are entitled to a Republic of Ireland passport which guarantees them free movement and jobs in Europe.

Spain has made it clear that all citizens of Gibraltar – who voted heavily to remain – could have Spanish EU passports  if they took over joint sovereignty of the Rock. This means it could trigger a fresh crisis.

The promise of £350m a month for the NHS if the leave campaign one  has mysteriously disappeared.

Britain’s taxpayers have begun a new bail out for the banks with £250 billion of our money earmarked to defend the pound.

The result has been however been welcomed as an ” historic opportunity” in Iran. See this report in a  US pro  Jewish and Israeli website here. The Islamic state also thinks it is a good idea as they see great opportunities for dividing Europe.

In the last 24 hours the situation has worsened.

In Berlin the six founding fathers of the EU  met and decided they would not wait for a leisurely departure from Britain but ask the country to prepare to go this week.

Jonathan Hill ( Lord Hill) the British commissioner responsible for capital  and financial markets announced his resignation from July 15. He was the lynch pin for the EU’s relationships with the City of London. See a report here. he is being replaced by a Latvian with strong support for the Euro.

A major rating agency Moody’s has changed Britain’s credit rating to negative while also ruling that the Euro’s credit rating is positive – widening the gap between the two currencies.

Some British people living in Brussels ” in the know”  started applying for Belgian EU passports to ensure they had freedom of movement to apply for jobs in Europe. I wonder why?

What seems certain is that in short term prices are likely to go up but that is no problem for those Brexit supporters. some of them were celebrating their new freedom to buy bendy cucumbers without interference from Brussels.

I wonder how they will feel when Independence Day comes around next year.

 

 

 

 

10 thoughts on “The woes of the first 48 hours of Brexit

  1. You mention Iran’s pleasure at Brexit. Rather more to be seen in the Kremlin work-out gym, I imagine. Putin’s not been investing in the likes of Marine Le Pen and the Jobbik lot just to get rid of pocket money.

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  2. Well, as you point out yourself, I think somewhat grudgingly, it’s not all bad news: I don’t know why, in your unpatriotic way, you have it in for our bendy British cucumbers, but I suppose you are too easily impressed by size, rather than taste. Rather like my wife, who ignores my humble offerings (from the allotment), and buys whopping great ones from Tesco.

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  3. So do we think Corbyn voted Leave in the privacy of his ballot box.

    Two reasons:
    His lacklustre campaign
    His sudden announcement that there would be no further EU referendum under a future Labour Government. If someone else had been leader, he would be grumbling that the Party Conference decides policy.

    No wonder his Shadow Cabinet colleagues have shown little confidence in him.

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