UK Flails in Deepening Brexit Turmoil

EU leaders are holding emergency talks
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 27, 2016 5:48 AM CDT
Updated Jun 27, 2016 6:30 AM CDT
Brexit Turmoil Is Getting Worse
The flags of the UK and England fly above a souvenir stand on Westminster Bridge.   (AP Photo/Tim Ireland)

The UK remains in disarray after last week's Brexit vote, with the pound continuing to slump, chaos at the top of both main political parties, and widespread confusion over what leaving the European Union is going to involve. Top figures in the ruling Conservative Party have been jockeying for position since Prime Minister David Cameron announced his resignation Friday, but the opposition Labour Party is in no position to take advantage, the New York Times reports. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is facing rebellion from party members who fear his leftist policies will doom the party to defeat in a possible election this year. At least 10 members of Corbyn's shadow cabinet resigned after he fired shadow foreign secretary Hillary Benn in an attempt to stop a leadership coup. In other developments:

  • The leaders of Germany, France, and Italy are meeting in Berlin today and the speed of Britain's departure is expected to be the main focus of talks, the BBC reports. France and Germany say they are in "full agreement," though it isn't clear exactly what the position they agree on is.

  • Boris Johnson, a key Brexit supporter who is seeking to replace Cameron as prime minister, toned down his position so much in his weekly Telegraph column that it almost seemed like a U-turn. He said Britain will continue to increase cooperation with the EU in many areas, any changes will come slowly, and Brexit supporters need to accept that a 52% to 48% victory is "not entirely overwhelming," the Guardian reports.
  • In early trading, indexes in Britain, France, and Germany all fell, with banking stocks particularly hard hit. "The extent of the uncertainty that now clouds the UK's economic and political outlook is hard to exaggerate," Kit Juckes, strategist at Societe Generale, tells CNN.
  • The Washington Post spoke to voters in Tilbury, a fading port town in southeast England that heavily backed Brexit, and finds that many of them are already regretting the vote, feeling that they were lied to by politicians in the Leave campaign.
  • Reuters reports that since Cameron says he won't personally trigger Article 50 to leave the EU, it is far from clear when the British exit will actually happen. Some officials now say a vote in Parliament will have to happen first, though EU foreign ministers now want the exit to happen quickly.
(Scotland's First Minister says she is prepared to block Brexit to protect Scottish interests.)

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