Britons were yesterday voting on whether to stay in the EU in a referendum that has split the nation and is being nervously watched by financial markets and politicians across the world.
Opinion polls taken before the vote indicated the outcome is too close to forecast, although two polls published late on Wednesday suggested a swing toward “Remain.”
Much will depend on turnout, with younger Britons seen as more supportive of the EU than their elders, but less likely to vote.
Photo: AFP
Polling stations opened at 7am and were to close at 9pm, with results expected to be announced by the 382 individual local counting areas between 1am and 3am today.
British Prime Minister David Cameron called the vote under pressure from the anti-EU wing of his Conservative Party and the surging UK Independence Party (UKIP), hoping to end decades of debate over Britain’s ties with Europe.
The “Leave” campaign says Britain’s economy would benefit from an exit from the EU, or “Brexit.”
Cameron says it would cause financial chaos and impoverish the nation.
He voted early and said on Twitter: “Vote ‘Remain’ — so that our children and grandchildren have a brighter future.”
His main rival, former London mayor Boris Johnson, whose decision to support “Leave” galvanized its campaign, told voters on Wednesday this was the “last chance to sort this out.”
It is only the third referendum in British history. The first, also about membership of what was then called the European Economic Community, was in 1975.
Most polls put the “Leave” and “Remain” camps neck-and-neck at the end of a bitter four-month campaign that was dominated by immigration and the economy, and shaken by the murder of pro-EU lawmaker Jo Cox last week.
Traders, investors and companies were braced for volatility on financial markets whatever the outcome of a referendum that both reflected, and has fueled, an anti-establishment mood also seen in the US and elsewhere in Europe.
On Wednesday, campaigners from both sides tried to win over the estimated 10 percent of the 46.5 million electorate who polls suggest had still not decided which way to vote.
The “Remain” campaign took aim at their rivals by saying a Brexit would hurt the economy, security and the country’s status.
The “Leave” campaign said high levels of immigration could not be controlled inside the EU and it was time to bring powers back from Brussels to London.
“If we don’t vote to leave tomorrow we will remain locked in the back of the car, driven in an uncertain direction, frankly, to a place we don’t want to go and perhaps by a driver who doesn’t speak the very best of English,” said Johnson, a leading contender to replace Cameron as prime minister.
Britain is deeply divided on EU membership, with big differences between older and younger voters, and between pro-EU London and Scotland and eurosceptic middle England.
That split was reflected in British newspapers’ front pages. “Independence Day” was the front page headline of the Sun tabloid, Britain’s biggest-selling newspaper, while the Daily Mirror warned “Don’t take a leap into the dark.”
Whatever the outcome of the vote, the focus on immigration to Britain, which has increased significantly in recent years, could worsen frictions in a country where the gap between rich and poor has also been widening.
If Britons choose to leave, Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon has suggested Scotland might call a referendum on leaving the UK.
Even with a vote to stay, Cameron could struggle to repair the rifts in his party and hold on to his job.
Foreign leaders, from US President Barack Obama to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), have called on Britain to remain in the EU, a message supported by global financial organizations, many company bosses and central bankers.
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