The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland voted on June 23 for Brexit — Britain to exit the European Union (EU). As the Inquisitr reported yesterday, many Britons apparently didn’t understand what they were voting for and now are experiencing a serious case of voters’ remorse. The vote was close: 48 percent of Britons voted to remain in the EU, and 52 percent voted to leave. The consequences were predictable, yet many Britons did not expect them. The pound is falling. Prime Minister David Cameron has announced his intention to resign by October.
The Mirror reported that many people didn’t expect their votes to count , that they were only casting a protest vote.
“I didn’t think that was going to happen. My vote – I didn’t think was going to matter too much because I thought we were just going to remain.”
Londoner Matt Stephens tweeted that he wanted EU reform and voted out as a protest vote, hoping the government would take notice. He didn’t expect the UK to actually leave the EU. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair agreed many voters only wanted to register a protest vote.
“Many people who voted Leave who saw this as a protest vote. And it wasn’t, I’m afraid. It was a decision vote.”
One of the most disturbing trends of the Brexit election was how many people Googled questions after the voting ended that should have been asked before casting their votes. For example: What does it mean to leave the EU? What is the EU? Which countries and how many countries are in the EU?
“What is the EU?” is the second top UK question on the EU since the #EURefResults were officially announced pic.twitter.com/1q4VAX3qcm
— GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) June 24, 2016
A new trend has come up on Google since the Brexit results were announced: people asking how to emigrate from the U.K.
Businessman, reality TV star, and presidential candidate Donald Trump gave a press conference on the 9th tee at his Trump Turnberry Resort on June 24. The official reason for the trip to Scotland was for Trump to re-open one of his golf resorts. Trump Turnberry Resort, in Turnberry, Ayrshire, Scotland, underwent an 8 month refurbishment as part of an investment thought to be worth approximately 200 million pounds, or roughly $300 million dollars in U.S. currency. Both the Trump Turnberry Resort and Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeenshire had been losing money. Neither had provided as many local job opportunities as Trump had promised. Donald Trump predicted that as a result of the Brexit vote and the falling pound, Turnberry Resort would gain more visitors who would be attracted by the new rate of exchange between pounds and dollars.
The Huffington Post questioned whether this was a business trip or a campaign trip, and if so, would Trump’s campaign donors be paying for it ? The Washington Post (whose reporters Trump has banned from his campaign) reported that many Republican leaders were concerned about the possible ethics violation of their candidate combining politics and business.
Donald Trump experienced a minor faux pas when he tweeted that people were “going wild” over the Brexit vote and taking back their country, not realizing that Scots had voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU. Scottish Twitter users were quick to correct him. The kindest things they called him were “moron” and “dolt.”
This might be the dumbest tweet you’ve ever posted. Scotland voted against leaving, you dolt. https://t.co/J1P9eqUyTz @realDonaldTrump
— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) June 24, 2016
The Telegraph provided maps and charts of which regions voted to remain in the EU and which voted to leave . In London, Northern Ireland, and Scotland, the majority of voters voted to remain in the EU. In other parts of England and Wales, leave votes outnumbered remain votes. The possibility of Scexit, Scotland exiting the U.K., has been raised. Scotland had a referendum in 2014 as to whether they should stay in the U.K. or regain their independence. The results then were 55.3 percent voting to stay part of the U.K. and 44.7 percent voting to leave. Given that most Scots favor EU membership, it’s not impossible for a second Scottish referendum. As many Scottish politicians lean to the left, if Scotland left the U.K. this would mean a conservative tilt to the British government.
Young people voted in favor of remaining with the U.K. and against Brexit. A poll taken a few days before the election showed that almost two-thirds of voters 18-24 were opposed to Brexit.
Absolutely brilliant poll on Brexit by @YouGov pic.twitter.com/EPevG1MOAW
— Tancredi Palmeri (@tancredipalmeri) June 23, 2016
Millennials are complaining of lost opportunities. A reader comment by Nicholas Barrett in the Financial Times has gone viral, reported by NBC News and other websites and retweeted hundreds of times.
“The younger generation has lost the right to live and work in 27 other countries . We will never know the full extent of the lost opportunities, friendships, marriages and experiences we will be denied.”
British millennials, according to the Washington Post , feel they have more in common with Europeans their age than their British elders.
“There’s a natural divide between generations around the world: There are those of us who grew up with the Internet, and those whose lives go largely unaffected by anything digital or global in nature. We’ve grown up believing in a future that transcends national borders because we experience that world in our work, interests and social lives online. Today, the future we imagined was stolen from us…. Decades of uncertainty and political chaos have been unleashed by a generation of voters that barely possesses the digital literacy to use a USB stick correctly.”
In the long run, will Brexit benefit the U.K. or harm it? How will Brexit affect U.S. relations with the U.K. and Europe, especially foreign trade? Give us your opinions in the comment section below.
[Photo by Mary Turner/Getty Images]