The UK
has voted by 52% to 48% to leave the European Union after 43 years in an
historic referendum.
The pound
fell to its lowest level against the dollar since 1985 as the markets reacted
to the results.
The
referendum turnout was 71.8% - with more than 30 million people voting - the
highest turnout at a UK
election since 1992.
Labour's
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the Bank of England may have to intervene
to shore up the pound, which lost 3% within moments of the first result showing
a strong result for Leave in Sunderland and
fell as much as 6.5% against the euro.
A Labour
source said: "If we vote to leave, Cameron should seriously consider his
position."
But
pro-Leave Conservatives including Boris Johnson and Michael Gove have signed a
letter to Mr Cameron urging him to stay on whatever the result.
Labour
former Europe Minister Keith Vaz told the BBC the British people had voted with
their "emotions" and rejected the advice of experts who had warned
about the economic impact of leaving the EU.
He said the
EU should call an emergency summit to deal with the aftermath of the vote,
which he described as "catastrophic for our country, for the rest of Europe and for the rest of the world".
But Leave
supporting Tory MP Liam Fox said voters had shown great "courage" by
deciding to "change the course of history" for the UK and, he hoped, the rest of Europe .
And he
called for a "period of calm, a period of reflection, to let it all sink
in and to work through what the actual technicalities are," insisting that
Mr Cameron must stay on as PM.
Prof John Curtice says the
referendum has underlined the social and cultural gap between London
and provincial England .
Remain's
defeat seems to have been primarily the product of the decisions made by voters
living north of the M4.
Throughout
the Midlands and the North of England the level of support for Remain was well
below what was required for it to win at least 50% of the vote across the UK as a whole.
That
process could take a minimum of two years, with Leave campaigners suggesting during
the referendum campaign that it should not be completed until 2020 - the date
of the next scheduled general election.
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