– Domino effect –
In Brussels, the prospect of the world’s fifth-largest economy quitting the European club has raised concerns of a domino effect of exit votes that would imperil the integrity of the bloc, already buffeted by the eurozone and migration crises.
A defeat for “Remain” would lead to immediate pressure on Prime Minister David Cameron to stand down. The Conservative Party leader took a high-stakes gamble by promising the vote three years ago but it has deeply divided his party and the nation.
Brexit could trigger a constitutional crisis in Britain, too. If the country votes to leave the EU while Scotland chooses to stay, it could trigger a new independence referendum just two years after Scots voted against going it alone.
The first results from cities in northern England showed stronger-than-expected support for a Brexit. Champagne corks popped at an anti-Brussels party attended by UK Independence Party head Nigel Farage.
But a strident declaration of some heavily populated areas of London for “Remain” helped redress the balance.
Both sides now stand nearly neck-and-neck.
Nuneaton, a town in central England seen as a bellweather of public opinion in general elections, voted 66 percent for “Leave”. But general elections are no guide for this unprecedented referendum.
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