EU referendum result: more than £50 billion wiped off FTSE 100 as Brexit vote sparks market chaos

Robin de Peyer24 June 2016
WEST END FINAL

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Britain’s sensational vote to quit the EU sent shockwaves around the world as markets tumbled during a tumultuous day’s trading before staging a recovery.

The starting pistol on a Tory leadership election was fired as David Cameron quit as Prime Minister hours after the historic vote.

More than £50 billion was wiped off the FTSE 100 despite an afternoon rally as it recovered from 7 per cent down to end the day at 2.7 per cent, and the pound plunged in value.

Other indexes including the Dow Jones plummeted and shares in Britain's biggest banks including Barclays and RBS fell nearly 30 per cent during Friday’s trading before a partial recovery.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel led European reaction to the vote, saying: “Let’s not beat around the bush: Today marks a watershed for Europe.”

French President Francois Hollande expressed “great regret” at the outcome, while key figures in Brussels said they expected Britain to begin its “painful” withdrawal from the EU “as soon as possible”.

US President Barack Obama insisted the UK's "special relationship" with the US would endure despite the vote, despite previously warning Brexit would put Britain at the “back of the queue” for trade deals.

He added: "The United Kingdom and the European Union will remain indispensable partners of the United States even as they begin negotiating their ongoing relationship to ensure continued stability, security and prosperity for Europe, Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the world."

Leave wins EU referendum - in pictures

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Mr Cameron announced his resignation during a dramatic morning as Britain awoke to a political earthquake after votes were counted overnight.

London and Scotland voted to stay but the final count showed 17,410,742 Britons elected to Leave, while 16,141,241 wanted to Remain. The turnout was 71.8 per cent.

Appearing on the steps of Number 10 with his wife Samantha, the Prime Minister said: “This is not a decision I’ve taken lightly but I do believe it’s in the national interest to have a period of stability and then the new leadership required.”

Mr Cameron said he stood by his assertion that the UK could “find a way” to survive outside the EU. “Now the decision has been made to leave we need to find the best way and I will do everything I can to help,” he added.

The Prime Minister said he would aim to step down before his party’s conference in October.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also found himself facing a full-blown leadership challenge after his MPs were angered by his lacklustre performance during the EU referendum.

Influential Barking and Dagenham MP Margaret Hodge and colleague Ann Coffey were set to submit a no confidence motion in the Labour leader.

The two senior MPs are understood to have sent a letter to Parliamentary Labour Party chairman John Cryer. The PLP is due to meet on Monday, when the motion would be discussed.

Boris Johnson, who immediately became the frontrunner for the Conservative leadership after the referendum after fronting the Leave campaign, insisted the UK is not “turning its back on Europe”.

The former London Mayor praised Mr Cameron’s “extraordinary” leadership, adding: “To those who may be anxious, whether at home or abroad, this does not mean that the United Kingdom will be in any way less united, nor indeed does it mean that it will be any less European... that this decision involves pulling up a drawbridge or some sort of isolationism - I think the opposite is true. We cannot turn our backs on Europe. We are part of Europe.”

Scotland’s future in the UK was also thrown into doubt after First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said a second referendum on independence was “highly likely” after voters north of the border were once again placed at odds with those in England.

"The vote to leave the EU is one I deeply regret," she said.

"It remains my passion and belief that it is better for all parts of the UK to be members of the European Union.

"The vote across England and Wales was a rejection of the EU and it was a sign of divergence between Scotland and large parts of the rest of the UK and how we see our place in the world."

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