MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“Leave” win tremors: sterling falls; Bank of England on full alert; “EUexit” domino calls

England and Wales voted strongly for Brexit, while London, Scotland and Northern Ireland backed staying in the EU.

The UK has voted on Thursday, 23 June, to leave the European Union after 43 years in a historic referendum. Leave won by 51,9% to 48,1% with England and Wales voting strongly for Brexit, while London, Scotland and Northern Ireland backed staying in the EU.

 UKIP leader Nigel Farage hailed it as the UK's “independence day” but the Remain camp called it a “catastrophe”.

Meanwhile the pound fell to its lowest level against the dollar since 1985 as the markets reacted to the results. And politically the UK's vote to leave the EU has sparked demands from far-right parties for referendums in other member states.

The referendum turnout was 71.8% - with more than 30 million people voting - the highest turnout at a UK election since 1992.

Wales and the majority of England outside London voted in large numbers for Brexit.

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.

France's National Front leader Marine Le Pen tweeted “Victory for freedom” and said the French must now also have the right to choose.

Dutch anti-immigration politician, Geert Wilders, said the Netherlands now deserved a “Nexit” vote. Analysts say EU politicians will fear a domino effect that could threaten the whole organisation.

Ms Le Pen hailed the UK vote, tweeting: “Victory for freedom. As I've been saying for years, we must now have the same referendum in France and other EU countries.”

She is the front-runner among candidates for the presidential election in 2017 but opinion polls sugges

t she would lose a run-off vote.

Last Friday, Ms Le Pen had told a gathering of far-right parties in Vienna: “France has possibly 1,000 more reasons to want to leave the EU than the English.”

She said the EU was responsible for high unemployment and failing to keep out “smugglers, terrorists and economic migrants”.

Mr Wilders, leader of the Party for Freedom in the Netherlands, said in a statement: “We want to be in charge of our own country, our own money, our own borders, and our own immigration policy.

”As quickly as possible the Dutch need to get the opportunity to have their say about Dutch membership of the European Union.“

The Netherlands faces a general election in March and some opinion polls suggest Mr Wilders is leading.

He said: ”If I become prime minister, there will be a referendum in the Netherlands on leaving the European Union. Let the Dutch people decide.“

A recent Dutch survey suggested 54% of the people in the Netherlands want a referendum.

Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz said he believed the EU would survive the UK exit, but that ”a domino effect on other countries couldn't be ruled out.

Fearing strong reactions in financial markets, the Bank of England said it was “monitoring developments closely” and would take “all necessary steps” to support monetary stability.

“It has undertaken extensive contingency planning and is working closely with HM Treasury, other domestic authorities and overseas central banks. The Bank of England will take all necessary steps to meet its responsibilities for monetary and financial stability.”

The move in sterling is the biggest one-day fall ever seen and London's main share index, the FTSE 100, is expected to open sharply lower, with indications of a fall of about 7%.

A weaker pound buys fewer dollars or other foreign currencies, which makes it more expensive to buy products from abroad. However, it should benefit exporters as it makes their goods cheaper abroad.

The Euro also fell 3.3% against the dollar, its biggest one-day fall since the currency's inception. Currency traders say these moves are more extreme than those seen during the financial crisis of 2008.

As for shares, the markets are pointing to a 8% slump when the FTSE 100 opens on Friday.