In a historic turn of events, with a 72% turnout, the UK has voted to leave the EU. Despite urging for the country to vote remain, Prime Minister David Cameron lost his campaign with 52% voting to leave.
Although overall Britain’s population voted to leave, results amongst the individual countries of the UK varied widely. Both England and Wales voted to leave whilst Northern Ireland and Scotland voted to remain. Most notably of all, there was not a single Scottish constituency which voted to leave the EU. This has raised questions about the likelihood of another Scottish referendum.
In light of the results, David Cameron has said that he will resign before October. In a statement outside Downing Street, Cameron explained that he did not feel he would be the appropriate leader to guide the UK into this new phase.
Economically there has been much initial turbulence with the value of the pound dropping to its lowest level since 1985. However, in a recent statement, Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England attempted to reassure, highlighting that a contingency plan has been put in place to reduce the likelihood of economic turmoil in the UK.
Young people have been speaking out across social media about the result of the Referendum. Details of the voting percentages by age groups have been released causing an uproar from the young people of the UK. They have expressed their dismay that those whose future this Referendum will impact most severely have been ignored, over 70% of young people between 18 and 28 voted to remain in the EU, with the majority of people over the age of 50 voting to leave.
A petition has been circulating calling for another EU Referendum, as the 52% win is not deemed enough for such a massive change to take place. The petition has reached over a million signatures and will therefore have to be discussed in Parliament.
Many students are worrying about their futures in a country that has excluded itself from the European Union. The University of Birmingham have released a statement hoping to reduce worries for its student body. You can read the statement here.
For now, the UK must sit and wait for this world-altering vote to take its effect.
If you are a student at the the University of Birmingham and want to voice your opinion on the EU Referendum’s outcome, please email news@burnfm.com
