Britain have voted in favour of leaving the European Union, BBC forecast has said.
The Remain camp needed to win 16 million votes and they’ve already polled close to 14.5 millions.
Though the supporters of Europe hoped the early deficit would be offset by the results of London. But the margin lost to Leave camp outside London and Birmingham turned out to be way too high.
The results have cast the future of UK as Scotland had voted to remain in Europe. Many fear the Scotland could vote to leave the UK all over again.
Prime Minister David Cameron said that the will of British people must be respected.
An emotional Cameron offered to resign adding that a new leadership in the country will be in place before October.
He said he had informed the Queen about his decision.
He said he will travel to Brussels next week to meet European Council to inform them about the referendum results.
Keith Van, senior labour leader and chairman of powerful Home Affairs Select Committee, described the outcome unfortunate. He said that it will have catastrophic impact on Britain’s borders, counter-terrorism efforts and internal safety.
This after early results in British referendum to decide if it should remain a part of the European Union threw dramatic results with Sunderland voting overwhelmingly in favour of leaving the EU.
Also Read | Brexit Referendum: British politicians make final push on the last day of campaign
The news sent the British market, particularly in forex trade, into turmoil.
The BBC reported that the British pound had nosedived by a whopping 6% against the dollar as soon as the results from Sunderland came in.
Sterling fell more than 6% to below $1.44 after Sunderland vote but it came back to $1.49 as US markets closed. But soon it had come down to $1.40. Experts say the fall was more because of the uncertainty over the results than the fear of Britain possibly leaving the EU.
The drop in Pound has been at a level not seen before since 1985.
In Sunderland the “Leave”, received 82394 votes, while “Remain” got 51930 with the turnout being at 65%.
Around 46.5m people were registered to vote in what is the third nationwide referendum in UK history. Votes are being counted at 382 local counting areas in the UK and Gibraltar. It will take 16.4m votes to win the referendum, based on a 72% turnout estimate.
Live Updates
8.18 AM :
I now dare to dream that the dawn is coming up on an independent United Kingdom.
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) June 24, 2016
8.11 AM: Leave campaign surges ahead, takes overall lead to more than 5 lakh. 200 out of 382 seats announced.
8.08 AM : Edinburgh votes overwhelmingly in favour of Remain
7.49 AM: Leave- 50.7%, Remain-49.3% 148 of 382 seats results
7.25 AM : Liverpool too votes to Remain, Remain campaign takes lead over Leave
7.01 AM: Glasgow votes to remain. Big boost to the Remain campaign. Everyone is watching for results in London and Birmingham
6.45 AM : Alex Salmond, leader of Scottish National Party and the Liberal Democrat’s Vince Cable both concede that Leave could win the Referendum. Leave at 1,214,127 while Remain at 1.065,771
6.01 AM : It will take 16.4m votes to win the referendum, based on a 72% turnout estimate
5.50 AM :
Pattern emerging that both sides doing better than they expected in 'their' areas – means the overall result so hard to predict
— Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak) June 23, 2016
5.42 AM : Andy Coulson, former Number 10 Director of Communications, says that if he was sitting with David Cameron after the Newcastle result: “Anxious would be the over-riding emotion.”
5.32 AM: Leave wins in Broxbourne, Remain garners only 34% votes. Leave again leads by 9,931 votes.
5.30 AM : Overall position (Leave, 2,66,721- Remain, 2.59.790)
5.26 AM: Swindon results are out. Remain gets 45% while Leave gets 55%.
5.23 AM: 56% votes to Remain in Isles of Scilly, Remain camp now leads by 20,134 votes.