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Saturday Nov 16, 2024
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Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron attends an Armed Forces Day National Event (AFDNE) at Cleethorpes in Britain 25 June
Brussels (Reuters): Britain need not send a formal letter to the European Union to trigger a two-year countdown to its exit from the bloc, EU officials said, implying British Prime Minister David Cameron could start the process when he speaks at a summit on Tuesday.
“‘Triggering’ ... could either be a letter to the president of the European Council or an official statement at a meeting of the European Council duly noted in the official records of the meeting,” a spokesman for the council of EU leaders said.
A second EU official, asked about mounting frustration among leaders with the British prime minister’s delay in delivering the formal notification required to launch divorce proceedings, said: “It doesn’t have to be written. He can just say it.”
Cameron will brief the other 27 national leaders over dinner at a European Council summit in Brussels on Tuesday on the outcome of Thursday’s referendum at which Britons voted to leave the EU, prompting him to announce he will resign.
On Friday, he said he would leave it to his successor as Conservative party leader and premier to trigger Article 50 of the EU treaty, which sets out a two-year process to quit the bloc. That appeared to be a reversal of a pledge to launch the process immediately after the vote. It has angered EU leaders who want a quick settlement to limit uncertainty.
Some European leaders still expect Cameron himself to start the process in the coming days or weeks, officials said on Saturday. British officials were not immediately available.
Some Brexit campaigners have long said that Britain should aim to negotiate a comprehensive new relationship with the EU, seeking access to markets without submitting to EU rules or open migration, before binding itself into the two-year timetable that would be fixed for talks if Article 50 is triggered.
Such talk worries EU officials and leaders who fear that a prolonged haggling with London will further increase the risk of a domino effect of nationalist-led demands for exit from other states. They do not see a legal way to force Britain to start the process but have piled political pressure on Cameron to honor his pledge to launch Article 50 negotiations and respect the popular vote.
Must be explicit
The Council spokesman made clear that leaders cannot simply choose to interpret something Cameron says as the trigger without the prime minister saying clearly he means it to be.
“The notification of Article 50 is a formal act and has to be done by the British government to the European Council,” the spokesman said. “It has to be done in an unequivocal manner with the explicit intent to trigger Article 50.
“Negotiations of leaving and the future relationship can only begin after such a formal notification. If it is indeed the intention of the British government to leave the EU, it is therefore in its interest to notify as soon as possible.”
Since the shock vote on Thursday, won 52-48% by the Leave camp in defiance of polls and the bulk of the British establishment, there have been calls in Britain for the result to be reviewed or for parliament to ignore the referendum.
The second EU official, asked whether Britain could launch the process and then ask to stay, said that was not foreseen by the treaty. “Once you trigger it, you cannot take it back.”
If a state fails to agree a departure treaty with the others, EU law simply stops applying to it after two years.
AFP: More than a million people have signed a petition calling for a second referendum, after “Leave” voters won a shock victory to pull Britain out of the European Union, an official website showed Saturday.
The website of the parliamentary petition at one point crashed due to the surge of people adding their names to the call for another nationwide poll following Thursday’s historic vote.
“We the undersigned call upon HM Government to implement a rule that if the remain or leave vote is less than 60% based (on) a turnout less than 75% there should be another referendum,” says the petition.
The Leave camp won the support of 51.9% of voters, against 48.1% in favour of remaining in the 60-year-old European bloc. Turnout for Thursday’s referendum was 72.2%.
The result revealed stark divisions between young and old, north and south, cities and rural areas, and university-educated people and those with fewer qualifications.
By 1030 GMT on Saturday some 1,130,000 people had signed the petition on the official government and parliament website – more than 10 times the 100,000 signatures required for a proposal to be discussed in the House of Commons, the lower house of parliament.
A map of the petition signatures showed that most came from England’s major cities, topped by London where there is a separate petition calling on Mayor Sadiq Khan to declare the capital independent from the United Kingdom, and apply to join the EU.
On Friday, a House of Commons spokeswoman said the website had been taken out of action temporarily because of “exceptionally high volumes of simultaneous users on a single petition, significantly higher than on any previous occasion”.
The parliament’s Petitions Committee, which considers whether such submissions should be raised in the House, is to hold its next meeting on Tuesday.
The idea of a second referendum was raised during campaigning for the referendum.
UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage said last month that there could be unstoppable demand for a second poll if the Remain camp won by a narrow margin.
“In a 52-48 referendum this would be unfinished business by a long way,” he told the Daily Mirror newspaper.
Speaking to the BBC he added: “If we were to lose narrowly, there’d be a large section, particularly in the Conservative Party, who’d feel the Prime Minister is not playing fair.”
“There would be a resentment that would build up if that was to be the result,” he added.
But Leave figurehead Boris Johnson downplayed the idea of a new vote, after Farage’s comments.
“I’m absolutely clear, a referendum is a referendum. It is a once in a generation, once in a lifetime opportunity and the result 
determines the outcome,” he said.
“If we vote to stay, we stay, and that’s it. If we vote to leave, we vote to leave, that’s it. You can’t have neverendums, you have referendums,” he added.
AFP: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Friday he expects the European Union to remain a solid partner for the United Nations after Britain’s decision to leave the bloc.
“The Secretary-General expects the European Union to continue to be a solid partner for the United Nations on development and humanitarian issues, as well as peace and security, including migration,” Ban said in a statement.
Ban also expressed hope that Britain will keep exercising its leadership in many areas including development.
For the transition period that now begins for Britain to leave the EU, Ban said he trusts “Europe’s well-proven history of pragmatism and common responsibility in the interest of European citizens.”
“At the UN, we look forward to continuing our work with the United Kingdom and the European Union -- both important partners,” Ban said.
“When we work together, we are stronger,” he added.
British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft stressed that his country’s “strength in the world will endure” -- not only in areas such as economy and diplomacy but “above all, here at the United Nations, our permanent seat on the Security Council.”
He brushed off questions about whether British influence will wane on the Security Council and at the United Nations in general.
“I’m confident that the UK will continue to play a constructive, responsible, leading role on the Security Council, in the General Assembly and in every other organ of the United Nations,” he told reporters.
AFP: Reflecting the divided nature of the country, Britain’s newspapers were Saturday polarised over the “Brexit earthquake”, some calling it the “birth of a new Britain,” others asking “what the hell happens now?”
“Take a bow, Britain!”, high-selling eurosceptic title the Daily Mail splashed across its front page.
“It was the day the quiet people of Britain rose up against an arrogant, out-of-touch political class and a contemptuous Brussels elite,” it added.
“In a magnificent affirmation of national self-belief and character, their resounding message to the elite was: ‘We are fed up with being disdained and ignored over the issues about which we feel strongly’,” said its leading article.
Fellow pro-Brexit title the Daily Express carried the headline “We’re out of the EU”, calling it a “glorious victory”, while the Times called it a “Brexit earthquake”.
Meanwhile, The Daily Telegraph hailed the “birth of a new Britain” on its front page.
“June 23 2016 will be remembered forever as the day the British voted to retake control of their own country,” said its editorial.
“While many people are understandably worried for their futures, not least after witnessing early volatility on the markets and exchanges, there is every reason to be optimistic,” it added.
However, the pro-EU Daily Mirror struck a sombre tone, asking “what the hell happens now?” on its front page while the Guardian wrote “Over. And out” above a picture of departing Prime Minister David Cameron.
“The country has embarked on a perilous journey in which our politics and our economy must be transformed,” said the Guardian’s editorial.
“That will demand the kind of debate about our alliances that we have not had since the Suez crisis forced a post-imperial reality on Britain,” it added.
Top-selling title The Sun focused on Cameron’s decision to quit in the wake of his humiliating defeat, leading with the headline “Why should I do all the hard s**t?”
Cameron apparently made the remark to an aide, explaining that he would leave the tortuous break-up negotiations to those who campaigned against him.
The paper put the shock result down to the “rage of the working classes.”
“It was a howl of rage at the increasing hopelessness of their lives, their neglected communities and the gulf between them and the rich, powerful governing class which this Referendum has so starkly exposed,” it said.
“Liberals champion all disadvantaged people EXCEPT poor Brits. For them, they cannot hide their contempt,” it added.
The prospect of another Scottish referendum dominated newspapers north of the border, with the Scottish Daily Mail carrying the headline “Disunited Kingdom”.
AFP: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Britain’s planned departure from the European Union signalled the “beginning of a new era” and warned the bloc could face new breakups.
“I see this decision made by the people of Britain as the beginning of a new era for Britain and the EU,” Erdogan said during a fast-breaking dinner late on Friday, in his first comments on the shock referendum result.
“Like the entire world, we expected a ‘yes’ result in the referendum but it turned out like that,” he said.
Voters in Britain decided Thursday to leave the EU, raising questions over the future of the bloc.
London has traditionally been a strong supporter of Ankara’s long-stalled bid to join the bloc, but the issue turned into a key theme of Britain’s referendum campaign, which was largely focused on immigration.
Erdogan said the problem today “is not Turkey but the EU itself.”
He warned that new breakups would be “inevitable” unless the EU renewed its policies toward migrants, rising racism and Islamophobia in Europe.
“Turkey will naturally take its place within the union if the EU sincerely questions itself and does what’s required swiftly,” he said.
“If that does not happen and the EU proceeds on its path by deepening its inconsistency, it will be inevitable for (the EU) to face new breakups in a short while.”
After applying in 1987, Turkey began EU accession talks in 2005 but its membership bid has been held up by an array of problems, with Erdogan this week suggesting Turkey could hold its own referendum on whether to continue its accession efforts.
On Friday, he blasted the EU’s attitude towards Turkey as “Islamophobic”.
“The treatment of Turkey now is Islamophobic. That’s why they are delaying taking us in.”
Erdogan also criticised British Prime Minister David Cameron who during the referendum campaign said Turkish membership was not “remotely on the cards” and may not happen until the year 3000.
“What did he say? He said ‘Turkey cannot join before 3000’,” Erdogan said.
“What happened now? Look, you could not stand for even three days” after the vote, he jibed, referring to Cameron’s announcement that he would resign by October.
AFP: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said the British government was “overconfident” and “superficial” in the EU referendum, and denied taking a position on Brexit.
The organisation of the referendum was “nothing more than overconfidence and a superficial approach to solving fateful decisions for one’s country, and Europe as a whole, on the part of the British leadership,” Putin said, in comments broadcast on Russian state television.
“It will have consequences for the United Kingdom, for all of Europe and for us, of course,” he added.
Many observers have said that Brexit would play into the Putin’s hands as he has been accused of driving a wedge between EU members.
But Putin on Friday said that Russia had never “interfered, never expressed our opinion on the matter” and dismissed attempts to associate Moscow with the UK vote to split from the European bloc.
“Of course we closely followed what is happening but did not in any way influence the process and didn’t even try to,” the Russian strongman said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also stressed there was no indication that Moscow was pleased with the result of the vote.
“The topic of Brexit is Britain’s domestic issue and an issue of its relations with the EU,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Economic warning
Putin also said Russia would strive to minimise Brexit’s potential effect on the Russian economy, which is already reeling from low oil prices and the devaluation of its currency.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev warned that Brexit’s impact on markets has created “additional risks for the world economy, and therefore, for our economy.”
The British vote to leave the EU demonstrated the desire to stop “feeding and subsidising weaker economies” and showed the population was “dissatisfied with the approach to security questions” amid the continent’s migration crisis, Putin said.
Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement that the vote had “shown there are serious contradictions in the European Union.”
As for EU sanctions against Russia, Putin said Brexit was unlikely to affect the bans Brussels imposed on Moscow over the Ukraine crisis.
Britain’s relations with Russia have soured in recent years, notably over efforts to prosecute the case of Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko who was murdered by poisoning in London.
Peskov however said Moscow hoped that Britain’s decision to exit the EU would not damage relations.
“We have a very complicated history... in bilateral relations, we can’t always say that our British partners are ready to communicate and cooperate,” he told journalists.
“We hope that in the new reality, the understanding of a necessity to build good relations with our country will prevail.”
