THE UK HAS voted to leave the European Union – and David Cameron is resigning as the Prime Minister of the UK.
All is change today as the world woke up to the shock that Brexit is happening.
Yesterday, voters were asked just one question:
Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union.
Sinéad O’Carroll kept you updated through the night and into the early hours of this morning as counting was completed across the water – and we moved from predictions of a Remain vote to a real-life Leave scenario.
So what does a Brexit mean? Stay with us for all the reaction.
Good evening!
Thanks for joining us – and I hope a few of you will stay the course to see what happens tonight. It’s not as exciting as, I don’t know, what happened last night - but we could be in for some good surprises and entertainment along the way.
To kick us off, this is one of many great photos from the polling stations today.
Polls just closed at 10pm but we already have a concession, of sorts, from Ukip’s Nigel Farage, who is on the Leave side obviously.
A YouGov ‘on the day’ poll also has the Remain side in front at 52%.
It’s not an exit poll (we’re not getting one of those) but it was a good indicator in the Scottish independence vote.
But others on the Leave side are casting doubt on that. Here’s what MEP and Ukip member Patrick O’Flynn had to say.
Our man in Scotland Daragh Brophy has been chatting to voters in Paisley (which is west of Glasgow) as they left the polling booths.
He found LOADS of Remain voters – who told him a multitude of reasons for why they wanted to stay in.
However, it took some work to get anyone on the Leave side (and even more work to get them to talk).
(Follow Daragh Brophy in Scotland via Twitter here – and keep up to date with all the latest on Brexit overnight via our liveblog).
Just to be clear – we have NO exit polls tonight.
The polls we’re getting results from are all ‘on the day’ opinion polls.
YouGov – as we reported earlier – has Remain winning with 52% of the vote.
Ipsos-Mori has Remain also winning but at a greater margin at 54%.
We’ll have to wait and see how accurate they are though…
The Financial Times reports that the pound got a nice bump from that YouGov poll putting the Remain side ahead at 52% today.
So back to that quasi-concession by Farage. This is his full quote:
It’s been an extraordinary referendum campaign, turnout looks to be exceptionally high and… looks like Remain will edge it. Ukip and I are going nowhere and the party will only continue to grow stronger in the future.
Others on the Leave side aren’t happy with his early-doors statement though. The Guardian’s Anushka Asthana is reporting this strong line from a Leave source.
Farage was hugely unhelpful during the last week of the campaign. Why would that change tonight?
The other big name on the Leave campaign Boris Johnson isn’t making any predictions just yet.
David Cameron, on the other hand, could be seen to be counting his chickens here.
Newstalk‘s Richard Chambers is at Farage’s (now fairly muted and maybe a bit awkward?) Brexit party.
The scenes are….. well we’ll just let them speak for themselves.
Some interesting stats from that YouGov poll that bears out some of the chat we’ve been hearing about the generational gaps in this vote.
The 18-24 year olds were a massive 75% stay vote, according to the ‘on the day’ poll.
The 25-49 year olds were closer together at 56% Remain to Leave’s 44%.
As the categories get older, the results flip.
The 50-64 year olds were down at 44% Remain to 56% Leave.
And when we get to the over 65s, there is a big gap of 39% Remain to 61% Leave.
A minute’s silence, followed by a round of applause, has been held across all count centres to remember MP Jo Cox.
She was an extremely active campaigner for the Remain side before she was brutally murdered on the street last week.
We have our first result of the night – and it’s from Gibraltar and it’s a MASSIVE win for Remain.
Votes cast in favour of staying in: 19,322
Votes cast in favour of leaving: 823
That’s 95.9%.
A more-buoyant Nigel Farage has spoken to reporters at that Brexit bash.
He has rolled back a little on that earlier concession (maybe he was told about Ukip’s private poll which contradicts YouGov’s and others that have put Remain ahead?).
Here’s what he said.
“Ladies and gentlemen, good evening.
I want to say a massive, massive thanks to every single voter today who had the guts to defy their party political leaders, to defy the establishment, to defy the elite and to defy the big boys.
I can’t imagine there has ever been a campaign where ordinary folk have been subjected to so many threats.
I have to say, it’s been a long campaign. In my case, 25 years.
Whatever happens tonight, whoever wins this battle, one thing I am completely certain of is that we are winning this war.
Euroscepticism was considered to be fringey, fruitcakey – to quote the Prime Minister – pretty odd. And now it looks like tonight maybe just under half and maybe just over half the country is going to vote for us to leave the European Union.
I promise you this, if the result is that we vote to leave, we must make sure the government carries out the will of people.
If the vote is that we haven’t quite made it, then we have a lot to look forward to as continued EU members.
Tomorrow, the Foreign Affairs minister will launch their big global initiative including defence.
Next week, talks begin with Turkey to join the European Union.
And in July or August, we look forward to the third Greek bailout.
What has dominated this campaign has been an issue that Westminster finds very difficult to talk about.
An issue for which I have been demonised for much of the last 10 years.
I remember going to Bolton and a lady grabbing my hands with tears in her eyes, saying ‘Why doesn’t the Prime Minister come and see what he’s done to our lives? How he’s changed our community? What he’s done to the prospects of our kids getting jobs, or school places, or houses?’
That issue if we do vote to Remain is one that is not going to go away.”
Turnout figures are coming in with very high numbers in some areas.
Sunderland has confirmed its turnout at 64.9%.
Many areas are saying they had more people vote in this referendum than in the last General Election. It could be as high as 71% overall.
The campaign is probably the ugliest the UK has ever seen – so many people were exercised on both sides to brave rain, bad trains and more to get to polling stations.
Ooooooo it’s VERY close in Newcastle-upon-Tyne but Remain has just shaded it.
IN: 65,404
OUT: 63,598
Turnout was 67.6%
And a third result in. This time, the Orkney Islands off Scotland.
Unsurprisingly, it’s a big win for Remain there as well.
IN: 7,189
OUT: 4,193
Here is a video of the minute silence in Jo Cox’s Yorkshire counting centre.
The grief still palpable a week on from her devastating murder.
So far we have just three results in out of 382 voting areas so we don’t know anything really yet.
But here’s a recap anyway.
IN: 57.3% (91,915)
OUT: 42.7% (68,614)
TURNOUT: 69.3%
SUNDERLAND HAS VOTED OUT.
It’s the first victory of the night for the Leave campaign.
IN: 51,930 (38.7%)
OUT: 82,394 (61.3%)
A leave vote was predicted for the eurosceptic area but that’s a bigger margin than expected.
Celebrations for that camp but a little worrying for the Remain campaign.
And look what these results in Sunderland have done to the pound.
Investors are selling A LOT of sterling right now with the price going down. Way down.
Nosedive.
Farage reminds Kay Burley on Sky News that when the Irish voted in EU referendums, we were asked twice to ensure Europe got its way.
He also repeats the lines about not winning the battle, but winning the war.
He says euroscepticism (I’m going to be writing that word a lot tonight, right?) has now gone mainstream across the UK and other European countries.
Although he says Remain will just take the vote tonight, he’s still leaving some room for a surprise result. He also complained again about the two-day extension to register to vote (a move by the government which the Leave side has said was to ensure they got a boost for the Remain campaign).
And more from that Farage/Burley interview….
Referencing the murder of Jo Cox, he said “a very major tragic event may have been part of it” when talking about how the Leave camp lost momentum over the past week.
There’s a different mood at that Brexit party right now after the Sunderland result.
High turnouts being confirmed across Northern Ireland at the moment. We’re expecting results from Foyle (Derry) shortly…
Staying in Northern Ireland, our reporter Michael Sheils McNamee spoke to some people in Derry today – most of whom were Remain voters.
In case you missed this earlier, here’s what one retiree Jennifer had to say:
I voted yes because I’m from a generation that knows what the EU was about, where it was started from – it was to stop wars in Europe, which it has done.
The other thing is, because I’m transgender, a lot of the legislation for transgender people was due to Europe, because the UK government weren’t interested, or they were forced to pass gender recognition legislation but it was Europe that made them do it. So that’s why.
RESULTS KLAXON.
These ones from Foyle in Derry.
IN: 32,064
OUT: 8,905
In our poll this morning, we asked readers whether they wanted to see the UK to remain or to leave.
Just as an excuse to talk about the match again, here’s a status from just one of those brilliant fans who charmed everyone in Lille and beyond on Wednesday.
Impressive.
And Leave have another win – this time in Swindon.
IN: 51,220 (45.3%)
OUT: 61,475 (54.7%)
TURNOUT: 75.8%
That’s eight areas now in and OUT is in front (just) at 50.7% overall.
It’s going to be a LONG morning. Might need something stronger than this.
In ‘bizarre celebrity endorsement’ of a political campaign, here’s what Lindsay Lohan (of Mean Girls fame) has been tweeting about the referendum.
We’re not sure either….
Back to those results in Swindon and why they have really dampened the mood of the Remain camp.
The constituency was one of Open Europe’s 20 areas to watch in terms of nationwide trends.
It sites the 2015 General Election when swing voters “broke for the Conservatives”, making it one to watch again. But this time, those middle-income, mid-30s voters went to the Leave camp.
With 11 areas’ votes in… here’s where we stand at the moment.
That’s 396,108 votes against 367,245
SQUEAKY. BUM. TIME.
There’s lots of talk already about David Cameron’s future as Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader… before we even have a result.
A letter from 86 MPs (mostly from the Leave camp) was delivered to him today, asking him to stay on as PM regardless of the result.
One of the signees, Robert Syms, said the letter thanked him for “giving the British people a choice of their destiny today”.
It read:
We believe whatever the British people decide you have both a mandate and a duty to continue leading the nation implementing our policies.
*STATE OF PLAY*
OUT: 50.2% (497,630 votes)
IN: 49.8% (494,603 votes)
15 out of 382 areas have confirmed results.
Turnout is about 68.5% but expected to rise to 71%.
The winning line (as predicted by Sky News) is 16,250,000 votes.
If anyone out there is imbibing, it would be a BAD idea to drink every time you hear someone say ‘hard to call’, ‘too close to call’ or ‘difficult to predict’ tonight.
This is very interesting from Google Trends.
There has been a 250% spike in the past hour of the following search.
“What happens if we leave the EU?”
And even more wins for the Leave camp.
Twenty areas have declared official results and OUT are in front with 51.1% of the vote.
Let’s take a look at what the bookies are saying now…
Across the board, odds are shortening on a Leave victory.
From Oddschecker:
And we have another result in – this time from Wales.
Swansea has voted OUT by a narrow margin.
IN: 58,307 (48.5%)
OUT: 61,936 (51.5%)
Turnout: 69.5%
And in Basildon, there are football-like chants as the Leave camp wins there (as they were expected to).
IN: 30,748 (31.4%)
OUT: 67,251 (68.6%)
Click here if you can’t see the video below.
*STATE OF PLAY*
OUT: 53% (1,275,851 votes)
IN: 47% (1,129,702 votes)
38 out of 382 areas have confirmed results.
Turnout is about 70% and is expected to end up at around that mark.
The winning line (as predicted by Sky News) is 16,250,000 votes.
Wonder if the editors at the Daily Mirror are worried about going to press with this front page?
Speaking to BBC News, Arron Banks – the founder of Leave.EU – is confident that his side are going to take this thing.
He donated £6 million of his own money to the campaign.
His interview is cut short to go to North Warwickshire where the Leave side take a big win.
Oxford have returned results and it’s another predictable win for the Remain camp.
IN: 49,424 (70.3%)
OUT: 20,913 (29.7%)
Turnout 72.3%
A result in from Scotland – it’s 2 to 1 in favour of Remain in Glasgow.
IN: 168,335 (66.6%)
OUT: 84,474 (33.4%)
Turnout: 56.2%
Meanwhile, there have been six OUT votes in Wales already. Interestingly, many Remain campaigners there have noted that the country receives more monetary support from the EU than it spends on being a member.
With big results from Wandsworth, Glasgow and Falkirk for the IN side, we have seen the Remain side jump ahead for the first time in the last couple of hours.
They are now at 51.3% with 2.1 million votes, while Leave has also surpassed 2 million votes with a 48.7% share.
Fifty-two constituencies have now counted their votes. Remember that finishing line is at the 16,250,000-vote mark.
Three results are in from Belfast and one of three have voted to LEAVE. It was incredibly tight in Belfast North:
IN: 20,128
OUT: 19,844
Belfast South was more decisive:
IN: 30,960
OUT: 13,596
And Leave won out in East Belfast:
IN: 20,728
OUT: 21,918
So things have taken a turn at the Ukip Brexit party…
Sources have told us that the organisers downsized and moved it to another floor in the building, locking out some guests and a few foreign journalists.
Looks like Newstalk’s Chambers didn’t make the cut.
Here are some updates on what’s happening with the pound…
Sterling is in freefall and it’s looking like it could be its most volatile day in modern history, according to Sky’s economics editor Ed Conway.
About an hour ago, the FT noted its moves are amongst the biggest in history.
Uh.
Oh.
More from AFP on what’s happening with the bookies:
Bookmakers dramatically reversed the odds on Britain leaving the European Union on Friday as early results from a historic referendum pointed to strong support for a Brexit.
Just hours after giving odds that indicated an estimated 90-percent chance of Britain staying in the EU, the main betting companies shifted to make a “Leave” vote the strong favourite.
Betting exchange Betfair moved to odds of 8/13, an implied probability of a Brexit of more than 60 percent. Ladbrokes had odds of 4/7, an implied probability of 63 percent.
This observation.
RESULT
We’ve been waiting on the big cities and here’s Liverpool – the 10th result from the north-west and the first of those to vote IN.
IN: 118,453 (58.2%)
OUT: 85,101 (41.8%)
Turnout: 64%
That brings us up to 91 areas with results in and the IN side have a 50.8% share of the vote so far.
From a US-domiciled Dublin woman, glued to the television:
It’s like a scary Eurovision – they should have it in French - #remaindouzepoints
Meanwhile, when we say neck and neck or too close to call, we mean it.
From Sky News:
And the Leave side have snuck ahead again with 137 constituencies’ results in.
They’re on 50.7% with more than 5 million votes.
SHEFFIELD
Another win for OUT. And it’s another important one as the Remain camp was hoping that bigger cities would carry them over the line.
IN: 137,735
OUT: 136,018
Most of the chat now across UK media is about the sterling and the MAD things that are happening right now.
The markets are very worried as the results keep coming in – and the Leave side stays ahead.
The pound has taken a nosedive to below $1.40. Lots of comments like this being bandied around.
The Irish Independent has gone with fears over sterling as its front page headline tomorrow.
We will know by paper-selling time though what the result is. And if it’s a Brexit, it’s going to be a rocky road for the pound.
Nigel is allowing himself to dream as Leave vote skips ahead to 51.2% so far (with 211 voting areas in).
Here are the results from Manchester
IN: 121,823
OUT: 79,991
Turnout 60%
There’s going to be an overall result for Northern Ireland soon as well.
They’re going to keep coming thick and fast at us now.
More from the markets as they have a conniption over possible Leave vote.
The dawn is breaking on an Independent United Kingdom.”
- Nigel Farage, 24 June 2016
Another major city votes IN. This time it’s Cardiff by a fair margin.
But Wales overall is actually OUT with the Leave vote at 52.9%.
Here’s Nigel Farage‘s almost-victory speech, in full:
“The dawn is breaking on an independent United Kingdom.
This – if the predictions are right – this will be a victory for real people. A victory for ordinary people. A victory for decent people.
We have fought against the multinationals. We have fought against the big merchant banks. We fought against Big Politics. We fought against lies, corruption and deceit. And today honesty, decency and belief in nation is, I think now, going to win.
And we will have done it without having to fight, without a single bullet being fired. We’ll have done it by damn hard work on the ground.
…We’ll have done it not just for ourselves but the whole of Europe. I hope this victory brings down this failed project and leads us to a Europe of sovereign nation states trading together, being friends together, co-operating together and let’s get rid of the flag, the anthem, Brussels and all that has gone wrong.
Let 23 June go down in our history as our Independence Day.”
*STATE OF PLAY*
OUT: 51.4% (10,828,624 votes)
IN: 48.6% (10,249,064 votes)
265 out of 382 areas have confirmed results.
Turnout is about 71.9%.
The winning line (as predicted by Sky News) is 16,800,000 votes.
People are not happy about Farage’s remarks about nearing victory “without a single bullet being fired” in light of the shooting of Labour MP Jo Cox last week.
SOUTHAMPTON IS OUT
IN: 49,738
OUT: 57,987
Turnout: 68.1%
That brings the gap between the two sides to more than 600,000 votes.
There are fewer than 100 constituencies to declare.
A Leave vote now seems inevitable.
Both David Cameron and Jeremy Corbyn will be in trouble with their parties. Neither have appeared on TV screens yet this morning.
That’s just one unknown – there will be plenty more to analyse when the world wakes up in a couple of hours.
On this side of the Irish Sea, it’s understood a Cabinet meeting will be held first thing.
This is a nightmare for Enda Kenny.
As the Leave camp moves passed the 13 million-mark, the BBC has forecast the result.
Sky News has also projected a Brexit.
Back to the pound. It’s hit its lowest level since 1985 as markets freak out about this now inevitable Brexit.
It has declined to $1.36 – a 31-year low in what has been described as an unprecedented collapse.
Meanwhile, Kay Burley is bringing her best Kay Burley and is knocking on Boris Johnson’s front door at 4.50am.
She knocked twice.
Like the kid who always arrived with the football at dinnertime and made your Mam mad.
Brexit decisions: Scotland and Northern Ireland both wanted to stay in but Wales voted OUT.
Here’s how the numbers crunched…
SCOTLAND: IN
IN: 62%
OUT: 38%
Turnout: 72.6%
WALES: OUT
IN: 47.5%
OUT: 52.5%
Turnout: 71.7%
NORTHERN IRELAND: IN
IN: 55.8%
OUT: 44.2%
Turnout: 62.7%
Sinn Féin has already called for a border poll following the results in Northern Ireland and England.
The party’s national chairperson and MLA for South Antrim, Declan Kearney told ITV:
Clearly it exposes a huge democratic deficit in the North. There is already a democratic deficit in this part of Ireland with the continued existence of partition, the division of Ireland.
A scenario where the majority of citizens here in the North of Ireland – both Unionist and Republican – vote in favour of remaining within the EU to then have that majority overturned as a result of a vote which potentially goes in the direction of Leave in England.
For us to be drawn out of the European Union carried on the coattails of a rump in England is completely undemocratic.
Sinn Finn will continue to press now for the calling of a border poll under the provisions of the Good Friday Agreement.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is also now eyeing a second independence referendum for Scotland.
She says that the IN vote makes it “clear that Scotland sees its future as part of the EU”.
This is how The Sun is looking…
My colleague Paul Hosford has been looking at what’s been happening with the pound – and it’s not pretty. At all.
Daragh Brophy reports from Scotland:
Christ, well that’s a turn up for the books, isn’t it?
The town of Ayr, where I am, is waking up to a post-Brexit world this morning. Not that there’s anyone much around to notice it – just a few David Dimbleby enthusiasts, the odd early morning jogger, and the loudest dawn chorus of seagulls known to creation.
But enough about my woes…
This result, among its many other effects, puts the Scots in a rather awkward position.
Alex Salmond, the former first minister, said in advance of the vote that a Leave result could lead to a second independence referendum.
Scotland, you see, voted 62% to 38% to Remain – with all 32 council areas opting to remain in Europe.
One Remain voter I spoke to at a polling station in Paisley yesterday said of a possible Leave result that he’d “deal with that if it happens and work against it”.
We now have results from 364 constituencies – so just 18 to go.
The Out vote is on 51.8% – 16,252,257 – as opposed to the In side’s 48.2% – 15,130,179.
It’s not a mathematical certainty yet but a Brexit is the inevitable outcome.
Wow.
This is from the chief political correspondent for the Financial Times.
Are there regrets this morning across the water?
Daragh Brophy, again, reporting from Scotland:
Donald Trump will descend from the heavens into all of this turmoil later this morning (when you mention his name around here, that’s where people tend to look – as if somehow expecting to catch a glimpse of his helicopter).
Most White House hopefuls, around this time in their campaign, tend to stage visits to London and Israel to burnish their foreign policy credentials – but Trump’s trip to Scotland is purely for business reasons.
He’ll be at Turnberry, just down the road from where I am, later this morning to promote one of his golf courses.
Does Donald have a view on Brexit, you ask… He does, actually.
“I don’t think anybody should listen to me [because] I haven’t really focused on it very much, but my inclination would be to get out,” he said last week.
There are no meetings with any politicians scheduled – which is just as well, really. It looks like they’ll all be kept busy.
Gisela Stuart, one of Labour’s leading MPs on the Leave side has spoken to the media (before Jeremy Corbyn as was previously decided in the case of an Out vote).
She said that “in the long run, Europe and the UK will emerge stronger as a result of this”.
The Leave side is about 300,000 votes short of mathematical certainty of a win.
Currently, 369 areas have confirmed results so there are just 12 to go.
It’s still 51.7% to 48.3% to the Vote Leave campaign.
‘Stronger In’ campaigners look shell-shocked this morning.
IT’S OFFICIAL
The UK has voted to leave the European Union.
The Leave side has crossed the winning line of 16.7 million votes, making its victory a mathematical certainty.
Following suit?
Geert Wilders, a Dutch anti-immigration, far-right politician, wants a vote in the Netherlands next.
This was Nigel Farage’s unofficial and controversial victory speech…
He has been criticised for saying that the Leave side won a fight without a single gun being fired, without mentioning the assassination of Jo Cox last week.
Author JK Rowling has strong reactions to this Brexit.
What does this graph show?
Google searches for “Irish passport” from the UK in the past week.
And this one shows the last 24 hours.
Chairman of the European People’s Party (of which Fine Gael is a member) Manred Weber has reacted on Twitter. He’s not a happy man.
He has said that exit negotiations “should be concluded within two years at max”.
“There cannot be any special treatment. Leave means leave.”
The EPP is the largest grouping in the European parliament.
Remember when every Irish person knew our credit ratings and we watched them like hawks?
Look what’s happening now.
Fianna Fáil’s Micheál Martin is first out of the blocks (of Dáil politicians) with an official statement on Brexit.
It reads:
We will not follow UK and we will work within EU
“Following the result of the UK referendum Ireland must be absolutely clear about our position. We will not be following the UK and we will work constructively to reform the EU from within. The economic, social and political case for Ireland to be a member of the Union remains overwhelming.
Our focus now must be to minimise the damage caused by this result. We have a distinct and urgent national interest which should be recognised by our European partners.
At the upcoming Brussels summit the Taoiseach should insist that Ireland be fully involved in the negotiations on the terms of Britain’s exit and that provision be made for regions particularly badly hit by the economic consequences.
For four decades a strand of English anti-European sentiment has built a deep resentment which led to this result.
It was a mean-spirited campaign in which fear of non-British people was promoted to a disturbing degree.
The fact that Scotland and Northern Ireland voted decisively to remain in the EU reinforces how divisive it has been. The result is regrettable but it must now be dealt with quickly and decisively.
The list of far-right politicians looking to follow suit grows. Next up, Marine Le Pen.
She wants a referendum in France next.
During the campaign, Vote Leave members claimed the NHS would be able to get £350 million extra per week if the UK left the EU.
Today, Nigel Farage said this wasn’t true and should never have been said.
Here’s what the government has to say ahead of a special Cabinet meeting at 10am.
The Taoiseach is expected to make a statement at 11am.
The Government notes the outcome of the UK EU referendum this morning. This result clearly has very significant implications for Ireland, as well as for Britain and for the European Union. The Government will meet later this morning to reflect on the result. Following that meeting, the Taoiseach will make a public statement.
Nigel Farage is out again – claiming the dawn of an independent United Kingdom.
He says that even the weather is happy, with the sun out.
If you’re not sure how significant the market reaction is to Brexit, this chart is illuminating.
Daragh Brophy reports from Turnberry, Scotland:
“Amid the Brexit fallout, there’s something of a political sideshow going on just a few hours down the road from Glasgow.
“White House hopeful Donald Trump is set to arrive by helicopter, family in tow, to promote his Turnberry golf resort (which is actually very nice – sorry).
“By the looks of it, America has sent half it’s reporting talent to this part of the countryside for the event. There were busloads of journalists being brought up the road from a security screening station around a kilometre away.
“Everyone’s kicking their heels at the moment, waiting for the Big Donald’s arrival, expected shortly after eight.
Meantime, staff are out raking the greens, and the silver jugs have been brought out in the press area. (If you’ve ever been to a press area, anywhere, you’ll know silver jugs are a rarity).
Jeremy Corbyn has called for Article 50 to be invoked immediately so the process to Brexit can be started immediately.
He said he is not going to resign his leadership of the Labour party.
He wants negotiations with the EU to begin so that the best deal possible is reached.
Corbyn definitely not coming across as somebody who is upset by this result. He had been accused of being half-hearted in the Remain campaign – and these interviews with Sky and the BBC aren’t doing much to refute that.
Transcript from Nigel Farage on Good Morning Britain
Presenter Susanna Reid: “The £350 million a week that we send to the EU which we will no longer send to the EU – can you guarantee that will go to the NHS?
Nigel Farage: “No, I can’t. I would never have made that claim. It was one of the mistakes, I think, that the Leave campaign made.”
SR: “Hang on a moment, that was one of your adverts.”
NF: ”It wasn’t one of my adverts, I can assure you.”
SR: “That was one of the Leave campaign adverts.”
NF: “It was. And I think they made a mistake.”
SR: ”After 17 million people have voted for Leave… I don’t know how many people voted on the basis of that advert but that was a huge part of the propaganda. You’re now saying that was a mistake?”
NF: ”We have a 10 billion pound a year featherbed that will be free money that we can spend on the NHS, schools or whatever it is.”
MARKETS HAVE OPENED
And it’s not pretty.
£122 billion has been wiped off the FTSE 100, its biggest slump since the 2008 crash.
Reuters Dublin reports that the Irish stock market is down by as much as 13%. Some notable losses:
David Cameron is about to make a statement and ITV News’ deputy political editor has heard word that he will resign.
David Cameron is resigning – he wants a new Prime Minister in place by October.
Cameron says his resignation is not a decision he came to “lightly”.
He said he loves the country and was proud to lead it, before returning into 10 Downing Street with his wife Samantha.
The Conservative leader said that the country had made the decision to go another way. And that he was not the man to lead the ship anymore because the country had chosen a different path to the one he advised.
I fought this campaign in the only way I know how – to say directly and passionately what I think and feel. Head, heart and soul. I held nothing back.
Paddy Power has installed Boris Johnson as its favourite to replace David Cameron as Prime Minister of the UK.
Theresa May and Michael Gove are also in the running.
As people try to get to grips what this means for their pockets, the popular xe.com currency converter site has crashed.
Here’s a roundup of our coverage so far this morning. Everything you need to know about Brexit, basically.
Brexit has had a massive impact on Irish stocks with the ISEQ opening at 17% down.
Shares as of 9.35am via Davy - a lot of Irish companies taking a battering. Bank of Ireland are down 25%, while Ryanair lost 10%.
We’re entering a lot of unknowns this morning.
How will a Brexit impact Northern Ireland and Scotland? Will border polls and independent referendums be fast-tracked?
Will the markets rally or are we tumbling into a crisis or a recession?
Who will the next Prime Minister of the UK be?
How long will it take the UK to actually leave the EU? Will they still be friends?
So many questions. We’ll be here all day to give you the answers (as far as there are answer to give).
Thanks for being with us for the past 12 historic hours.
Good morning and have a good day. This reporter is off to find a place to rest her head.
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