Live updates: Britain votes to leave the European Union

1. Britain’s shock vote brings swift consequences as leader to resign, markets plunge

David Cameron staked his political future on remaining in the European Union but could not persuade his people.

2. The untested E.U. process that will control Britain’s future

A guide to how the process of actually leaving the E.U. might work.

3. With David Cameron stepping down, all eyes are on Boris Johnson

If Cameron was the biggest political loser of the night, Johnson is arguably the big winner.

4. With Brexit, E.U. leaders confront their worst-case scenario

A flurry of diplomacy began Friday morning as E.U. leaders scrambled to manage Britain’s pending exit from the bloc.

The owner of a currency exchange office stands next to his exchange rates board in Gibraltar, on June 24. (Sergio Camacho/AFP/Getty)

The risk of another global recession escalated Friday after Britain’s stunning decision to leave the European Union plunged financial markets into freefall and tested the strength of the safeguards put in place since the last downturn seven years ago.

Wall Street was slammed from the moment trading opened, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping more than 500 points within minutes. Though it pared those losses over the morning, it was back down 534 points, or nearly 3 percent, by afternoon. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq suffered declines of more than 3 percent.

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Cartoonists have chimed in on the announcement that Britain will leave the European Union with creative illustrations that poke fun at the situation while explaining its significance.

Here are a few examples posted on Twitter:

Read more here

Leader of UKIP and Vote Leave campaign Nigel Farage speaks to the assembled media at College Green, Westminster following the results of the E.U. referendum on June 24, in London. (Mary Turner/Getty Images)

In an interview with CNN, pro-Brexit British politician Nigel Farage has said that President Obama doesn’t understand the European Union.

“I genuinely don’t think Obama understands what the European Union is,” Farage said. “He seems to think it’s like a rather big NAFTA. It’s not. Come on! For goodness sake, we are the closest allies in the world.”

Previously, Farage had called Obama the “most anti-British American president there has ever been.”

“I hope he will be replaced by somebody rather more sensible when it comes to trading relationships with this country,” Farage said in April.

Now is a good time to book that trip to Britain.

“The British pound has already tumbled 10 percent,” said Pauline Frommer, editorial director of Frommer’s guidebooks and its website. The last time the pound was seen at this level was 1985. “In terms of your buying power, this is good news,” Frommer said. (Disclosure: This writer has authored Frommer’s guides in the past.)

Frommer said travel could also get more inconvenient — people traveling from North America can probably expect longer customs lines when flying into Britain.

“Right now, when you go to, say, London, you arrive at Heathrow, there’s one line for everyone in the E.U., and there’s one line for everyone else,” she said. “The ‘everyone else’ line is going to get much bigger, which is bad for us North Americans.”

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Markets all around the world immediately felt the effects of the Brexit vote. After results revealed that voters had decided Britain would no longer stay part of the European Union,  shock waves could be felt in the global market. Nepal, in particular, has seen its rupee drop against the dollar. Local media reported on Friday that the Nepali rupee has “weakened by Rs 1.24 against the U.S. dollar,” and the price of gold saw a sharp rise in the domestic market.

White House correspondent David Nakamura sends in this dispatch from an event at Stanford University, where President Obama was speaking at a global entrepreneurial summit. He said he spoke to both British Prime Minister David Cameron, who will resign in the wake of his nation’s vote for Brexit, as well as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the European Union’s most important leader.

Namakura redacts Obama’s remarks:

“David has been an outstanding friend and partner on the global stage. Based on our conversation, I’m confident the UK is committed to an orderly transition out of the EU. We agreed that our economic and financial teams will remain in close contact as we remain focused on ensuring economic growth and financial stability.”

He and Merkel “agreed that the United States and our European allies will work closely together in the weeks and months ahead.”

“I do think that yesterday’s vote speaks to the ongoing changes and challenges that are raised by globalization. But while the UK’s relationship with the EU will change, one thing that will not change is the special relationship between our two nations. That will endure. The EU will remain one of our indispensable partners. The NATO alliance will remain a cornerstone of our global security. …  And our shared values including our commitment to democracy and pluralism and opportunity for all people in a globalized world — that will continue to unite all of us.”

According to poll numbers, Brexit and Trump supporters both tend to be male, older, conservative and less educated when compared with their opponents.

But that leads to the natural question: What can the Brexit results tell us about the U.S. presidential election? If Brexit won when it was expected to fail, could Trump do the same?

Fortunately or unfortunately, the result can’t tell us a lot. It doesn’t mean Trump can win here, but it also doesn’t mean he can’t. Largely at issue here is demographics.

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BRUSSELS — Smaller countries — particularly in Eastern Europe — have sent hundreds of thousands of citizens to work in Britain and may seek a gentler tone, in part to spare their expatriates.

“Punishment is not going to be the best way to consolidate forces,” said Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius in an interview. He said E.U. leaders were already consulting about next steps. The Baltic nation has 3 million citizens at home and 200,000 in Britain, a measure of what is at stake, not just for Britain but for the European nations it is leaving behind.

For an Eastern Europe that is staring across its borders at mounting numbers of Russian troops, the British decision will also have security implications, empowering the Kremlin and weakening European resolve against Russian actions in Ukraine.

“Frankly speaking, of course the Kremlin will celebrate,” Linkevicius said. “It’s a big day. Any step weakening the unity of the European Union, unfortunately, this could be considered a victory.”

In Russia, pro-Kremlin politicians mocked Europe for resisting what they said was the euroskeptic will of its populations.

“After the referendums in the Netherlands and Britain, the elites leading the countries of the E.U. will be against holding them: the opinion of the people is dangerous for their political goals,” the head of the foreign affairs committee of Russia’s lower house of parliament, Alexey Pushkov, wrote on Twitter.

On WorldViews, we look at comments made by Nigel Farage, leader of UKIP and prominent Brexit campaigner, in the wake of the victory.

“And today honesty, decency and belief in nation, I think now is going to win. And we will have done it without having to fight, without a single bullet being fired. We’d have done it by damned hard work on the ground,” he said.

The remarks are somewhat controversial given the killing of Labour MP and Remain advocate Jo Cox last week by an alleged gunman motivated by far-right politics. For more on Farage’s rhetoric and Cox’s slaying, head to WorldViews.

Catholicos Karekin II, left, flanked by Pope Francis, kisses a Holy Book as he visits the Apostolic Cathedral of Etchmiadzin in Yerevan, Armenia, on June 24. (Andrew Medichini/AFP/Getty)

The Vatican knows all about schisms already. On Friday, the pope’s spokesman asked him to comment on this more worldly split.

The vote “was the will expressed by the people,” Pope Francis said, according to Catholic News Service. He added that it “requires great responsibility on the part of all of us to guarantee the good of the people of the United Kingdom and the good and coexistence of the whole European continent.”

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Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi gives a press conference on June 24 at the Palazzo Chigi in Rome after the Brexit referendum in Britain to leave the European Union. (Alberto Pizzoli/AFP/Getty Images)

After results came in that people in Britain voted in favor of leaving the European Union, some people spent their Friday requesting to change their citizenship. According to media reports, 31 people in London went to Italy’s consulate requesting for Italian citizenship. And so far in Edinburgh, four people have requested Italian citizenship.

As Scotland’s first minister suggested a new independence referendum was in the cards, Irish nationalists in Northern Ireland — which voted in a clear majority to remain in the European Union — called for their own vote on the question of leaving Britain and unifying with Ireland to the south.

“The people of the north of Ireland — nationalists, republicans, unionists and others  — have made it clear at the polls that they wish to remain in the E.U.,” said Martin McGuiness, Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland and a leading member of Sinn Fein. “The British Government now need to take account of that and recognize that reality and allow the people of the north to have their say on their own future.”

His colleague and putative rival, First Minister Arlene Foster, poured cold water on the revival of Sinn Fein’s demands. “The call for a border poll was as predictable as the flowers in May. We knew it would come, but the test has not been met so therefore I don’t believe it will happen,” said Foster.

People across Africa have taken to social media in reaction to the Brexit vote. After British Prime Minister David Cameron announced that he would step down, different African countries began to reflect on their own internal politics — comparing Cameron’s decision to that of their own political leaders.

One Twitter user drew a comparison to South African President Jacob Zuma, who recently found out he could face corruption charges.

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Moamud also drew criticism.

Article 50 of the E.U.’s Lisbon Treaty. (Francois Lenoir/Illustration/Reuters)

Britain’s vote to leave the European Union has caused panic across much of the world. Yet for all the excitement, it’s important to note one thing: Nothing has actually happened yet.

Yes, Britain voted to “leave,” but the actual process of leaving the E.U. has not begun. Boris Johnson, leader of a pro-Brexit campaign, has suggested that Britain should wait before actually starting that process.

That process is called “Article 50.” And here’s what it is.

The mayor of Calais, Natacha Bouchart, announced today that she wants the French government to renegotiate the Le Touquet treaty between the United Kingdom and France. Calais is a town in northern France where many asylum seekers are staying. The announcement comes as no surprise as politicians in France have warned Britain that if it left the European Union, they would pull the treaty which allows British border patrol to check passports in Calais.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, on June 24. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg)

Wall Street banks on Friday scrambled to contain the fallout from Britain’s stunning vote to break ties with the European Union.

Some of America’s largest banks, including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase, contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to efforts to stop Britain from withdrawing from the European Union, worried it would disrupt their global operations and force them to rethink where and how they do business in Europe.

Several have indicated that they would be forced to move thousands of employees out of London, which has acted as the headquarters of their European operations.

Read more.

A poll commissioned by Lord Ashcroft, a former leading figure among the Conservatives, illustrates the profound ideological differences and anxieties weighing down the rival camps.

Huge majorities of Leave supporters saw immigration, globalization and multiculturalism as forces of “ill” for society, while vast numbers of Remain supporters saw them as forces for good. The Leave camp, according to the poll, was wary of feminism, environmental activism and the effects of “social liberation.” The only thing the two sides seem to agree on is a tepid embrace of the virtues of capitalism.

Alarm bells were sounding everywhere. Here’s how the world responded to the Brexit announcement:

1. The stock market’s so-called “fear gauge” soared following the Brexit vote

2. Italian and Spanish bonds tumbled as investors sought safer investments. 

3. Banks and government bodies cut back on forecasts for global economic growth.

4. The pound fell to its lowest value against the U.S. dollar since 1985. 

5. British real estate stocks suffered. 

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BRUSSELS – On a chaotic day for the European Union, the other vast multinational institution headquartered in Brussels, the NATO military alliance, sought to project an image of stability.

“I have been assured by the British government that the U.K.’s commitment to NATO is unchanged,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview. “The decision of the U.K. to leave just makes it even more important to have NATO as a framework for cooperation between European allies but also of course transatlantic cooperation.”

The British decision to leave the E.U. deals a blow to European military capabilities, since Britain accounts for 24 percent of all E.U. defense spending. The British and French forces are the only ones capable of true independent action. British leaders have said that their military stance will remain unchanged, but any instability weakens the continent, Stoltenberg said.

“Stability, predictability, is good for security. And uncertainty and unpredictability always creates challenges to our security,” he said. “It is a more unpredictable situation now than before the U.K. decided to leave.”

The British decision comes at an awkward time for NATO, just two weeks before NATO leaders are scheduled to convene in Warsaw for a biennial summit at which had intended to show their resolve against threats to Eastern Europe from Russia. NATO nations, including Britain, plan to commit 4,000 troops to defend the alliance members that border Russia: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.

Those plans remain unchanged, Stoltenberg said.

Catalan Bay on the east side of the peninsula in Gibraltar. (Flickr user David Stanley)

For  understandable reasons, a vast majority of the eligible voters in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar opted to Remain — that is, 95.9 percent, according to the BBC. The area is nestled at the southern tip of the Iberian peninsula and has long been claimed by a grudging government in Madrid.

Despite the territory belonging to the British since 1713, the lives of its 30,000 people are inextricably connected to Spain and access to the European Union.

After the Brexit vote, Spain’s acting foreign minister indicated that the British move to abandon the E.U. ought to lead to a shift in the governance of Gibraltar.

“It’s a complete change of outlook that opens up new possibilities on Gibraltar not seen for a very long time,” Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo told a radio station. “I hope the formula of co-sovereignty — to be clear, the Spanish flag on the Rock — is much closer than before.”

An official from the Scottish National Party tweeted that some Gibraltans were signing up with his party, which is also keen to stay within the E.U.

Update: The British have responded:

“I want to be absolutely clear,” David Lidington, the minister for Europe, said, according to the Guardian. “The United Kingdom will continue to stand beside Gibraltar. We will never enter into arrangements under which the people of Gibraltar would pass under the sovereignty of another state against your wishes. Furthermore, the UK will not enter into a process of sovereignty negotiations with which Gibraltar is not content.”

The BBC looks at the contrast between this E.U. referendum and an earlier one in 1975, when the bulk of Britain chose to remain in the common market. The shift is remarkable, and you can see clearly the extent to which Leave support has supplanted Remain support throughout large stretches of England.

In the aftermath of the U.K.’s shocking vote to leave the European Union, many dissatisfied Britons are considering a Plan B: moving to Canada.

Data from Google Trends show a huge spike in Britons typing “move to Canada” into their search bar today, rising about 100-fold compared with the period 24 hours before.

Read more on Wonkblog.

The impact of the Brexit is being heard around the world. In Iran, a country that has a fair amount of historical baggage with Britain, senior officials crowed at the political chaos, reports the Guardian’s Saeed Kamali Dehghan.

“A big earthquake has shaken Europe and England has left the EU, the stars of the EU’s flag are falling down,” said a senior adviser to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. “The economic developments in the countries situated in the southern Europe and the immigration crisis show that the [European] union is collapsing and Brexit has triggered the domino effect [of this collapse].”

The deputy chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, Massoud Jazayeri, was a bit more emphatic about what should happen next, urging the Irish and Scots to forsake their English overlords.

“England should pay the price of years of imperialism and committing crimes against humanity,” Jazayeri said. “The people of Ireland, Scotland and others have the right to bring themselves out of the tyrannical rule of the [British] monarchy, the so-called Great Britain.”

Donald Trump arrives at his Turnberry golf resort Friday in Ayr, Scotland, to officially open the resort. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, made comments at his golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, on Friday that implied a troubling contradiction.

On the campaign trail, Trump promises to defend U.S. firms’ interests vigorously. Yet he stands to make money if economic trends favor their competitors overseas.

“When the pound goes down, more people are coming to Turnberry, frankly,” Trump told reporters in Turnberry. “For traveling and for other things, I think it very well could turn out to be a positive.”

Read more in Wonkblog.

Brexit happened. And one of the biggest, and most immediate, effects on everyday Americans is how it will change mortgage interest rates.

Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate, said rates could sink to record lows in the coming weeks. “If you’re a borrower, don’t wait to lock your rate,” he said, “as this opportunity may not last long.”

They’ve already hit rock bottom this year. In the past month alone, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages have hovered around 3.7 percent, nearly a three-year low. Britain’s vote to leave the European Union is expected to drive rates even lower.

See more of this story on Get There.

A dataviz journalist at the Financial Times offers an instructive snapshot of the dynamics of the referendum vote.

The chart above shows both the regional and socioeconomic divide that shaped the referendum. Voters in London and Scotland championed the Remain camp, while Britons elsewhere, including those in the country’s post-industrial heartlands, opted for Leave. Moreover, as the chart illustrates, in areas where more voters had a college degree, support for Remain was stronger; it was the opposite in areas that voted for Leave.

Britons woke up to a stock market plunge and a drop in the value of the pound that hasn’t been seen in more than 30 years, which begs the question: Did Britons know what they actually voted for when they chose to leave the European Union?

The consequences of the leave vote will be felt worldwide, even here in the United States, and some British voters say they now regret casting a ballot in favor of Brexit.

“Even though I voted to leave, this morning I woke up and I just — the reality did actually hit me,” one woman told the news channel ITV News. “If I’d had the opportunity to vote again, it would be to stay.”

Read more on The Switch.

Harvard economist Lawrence H. Summers on the effect of the Brexit on the markets and economy, and his broader observations:

For Britain, the economic effects are two sided. On the one hand, a major jolt has been delivered to confidence, to future unity and down the road to trade. On the other, the currency has become more competitive, and liquidity will be in very ample supply. I would expect that a significant deterioration in growth and a recession beginning in the next 12 months has to be a substantial risk, though short of an odds on bet.

LONDON — At first, it seemed as if the “Remain” camp might be about to win Britain’s E.U. Referendum. Nigel Farage, the leader of the U.K. Independence Party (UKIP), said Thursday that it “looks like Remain will edge it.” A YouGov poll predicted a four-percentage point lead for “Remain.”

But as soon as the vote counting began, things started to look far different. YouGov ended up being about eight percentage points off: 51.9 percent of Britons voted to leave the European Union.

When the first results started to come in, after 4 a.m. on Friday, Google showed a spike in searches on the question “What happens if we leave the E.U.?”

Google statistics show where people were most interested: London, northern England and Northern Ireland.

Most Londoners opposed a Brexit and wanted to remain in the E.U. With about 11 million mainly younger inhabitants, the British capital has a significant electoral impact on British elections.

Northern Ireland might feel the repercussions of the Brexit particularly hard: Prime Minister David Cameron has argued that it would be necessary to reintroduce border controls between Ireland and Northern Ireland — a border that has been marked by tensions for decades.

President Obama has released a statement on Britain’s decision to leave the European Union. As The Washington Post’s Greg Jaffe reports, it strikes a far more conciliatory tone than the president’s previous comments about the vote.

The people of the United Kingdom have spoken, and we respect their decision. The special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom is enduring, and the United Kingdom’s membership in NATO remains a vital cornerstone of U.S. foreign, security, and economic policy. So too is our relationship with the European Union, which has done so much to promote stability, stimulate economic growth, and foster the spread of democratic values and ideals across the continent and beyond. The United Kingdom and the European Union will remain indispensable partners of the United States even as they begin negotiating their ongoing relationship to ensure continued stability, security, and prosperity for Europe, Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the world.

Sadiq Khan, mayor of London, speaks at a pro-Remain event in London on Wednesday ahead of Britain’s vote. On Friday, Briton’s voted to leave the E.U. (Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg)

London Mayor Sadiq Khan was a staunch champion of the Remain camp, recognizing the importance of membership in the European Union for his diverse, cosmopolitan city. Khan issued a statement following the vote, insisting that it is “crucial we remain part of the single market.” He also posted a message on Facebook to London’s nearly 1 million European residents:

I want to send a clear message to every European resident living in London – you are very welcome here. As a city, we are grateful for the enormous contribution you make, and that will not change as a result of this referendum.

There are nearly one million European citizens living in London today, and they bring huge benefits to our city – working hard, paying taxes, working in our public services and contributing to our civic and cultural life.

We all have a responsibility to now seek to heal the divisions that have emerged throughout this campaign – and to focus on what unites us, rather than that which divides us.

Irish Prime Miinister Enda Kenny speaks during a press conference in Dublin on Friday after Britain voted to leave the European Union. (Niall Carson/PA via AP)

Local media has reported a surge in people seeking information about Irish passport applications after Britain voted Thursday to leave the European Union. An increase in the number of online searches for how people can apply for an Irish passport has also been reported.

According to the Irish Times, “A Google Trends analysis also showed a spike of interest in Irish passports on the search engine from 4 am on Friday.” To assist with the high demand, Ireland’s government has hired 200 temporary workers. Irish passport holders will remain part of the E.U., allowing them to live there and move freely.

The BBC is reporting that Morgan Stanley is in the process of moving about 2,000 investment banking staff to Dublin or Frankfurt.

The move is due to the bank’s need to keep in line with the “passporting system which allows banks to offer financial services in all countries in the E.U. without having to establish a permanent base in that member state,” the BBC reports.

However, a spokesperson for Morgan Stanley has denied the claims, CNBC reports.

Former British prime minister Tony Blair, an important advocate of the European Union, has given a number of interviews this morning expressing his regret that Britain had voted to “leave.”

Speaking to Fox News, Blair said he was “sorry for the country” and said that Britain should “reflect on the result” before Prime Minister David Cameron leaves office.

In an interview with Britain’s ITV News, Blair warned that one of the biggest factors driving the vote to leave the E.U. would not be solved by leaving.

“We’re not going to resolve immigration by this vote,” Blair said.

Londoners took to social media today to express their frustration that Britain will be leaving the European Union. Some are even calling for England’s capital to break away from Britain. Others have gone on Twitter to gauge interest for a “London Independence Party,” and someone has created a Twitter account for the proposed idea. Read more about it here.

Finance minister and central bank governors from the Group of Seven have released a group statement on Britain’s vote to leave the European Union.

It’s included in full below:

We, G7 Ministers and Governors, respect the intention expressed today by the people of the United Kingdom to exit from the European Union. We are monitoring market developments following the outcome of the referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU.

We affirm our assessment that the UK economy and financial sector remain resilient and are confident that the UK authorities are well-positioned to address the consequences of the referendum outcome.

We recognize that excessive volatility and disorderly movements in exchange rates can have adverse implications for economic and financial stability.

G7 central banks have taken steps to ensure adequate liquidity and to support the functioning of markets. We stand ready to use the established liquidity instruments to that end.

We will continue to consult closely on market movements and financial stability, and cooperate as appropriate.

We remain united and continue to maintain our solidarity as G7.

The G7 is a group of industrialized nations that meet annually. Its members are the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom.

The Washington Post’s Erin Cunningham, a correspondent based in Istanbul, forwards remarks made by Turkey’s E.U. minister, Omer Celik, about the Brexit.

Celik pinned the move on the cacophony of xenophobia and anti-immigrant rhetoric that surrounded the campaign. “Leave” candidates had warned that Turkey’s admission to the E.U. (and a flood of Muslim migrants heading to Britain) was imminent, a claim that isn’t true. Celik used the occasion to lecture the Brits about Europe’s shared values.

Brexit marks the beginning of a new period when important developments will take place regarding Europe’s future. We are monitoring the situation closely. Moving forward there will be questions about Scottish independence, the situation in Gibraltar, and joint security. Young people’s support for the Remain campaign indicates that the idea of Europe has been successful.

David Cameron failed to resist the extreme right’s attacks against Turkey. When mainstream politicians can’t act with common sense, they are drawn into the extreme-right agenda. Turkey has been a European state throughout history and Turkey not being an EU member doesn’t change this fact.

European values are humanity’s shared values on which, Turkey believes, the union must be based. But there have been serious problems with the implementations of European ideas in recent years. Isolationism would destroy European values. Turkey worked with the European Union to address the refugee crisis, one of the greatest challenges Europe faces today. What Europe needs is a fresh start, including an update to existing mechanisms. We respect the British people’s decision. But the decision is bad for Europe.

The European people must hold their leaders accountable for engaging in anti-Turkey arguments. [Brexit] is a reaction by the public against European leaders. Turkey made unprecedented progress toward EU membership during the President’s tenure as prime minister. If they would like to safeguard European values, they must leave aside anti-Turkey sentiments and promote closer cooperation with Turkey.

British comedian named Lee Nelson interrupted Donald Trump’s speech on Brexit in Scotland to throw red-painted Nazi golf balls at him.

He also happens to be the guy who threw money at Sepp Blatter, the former president of soccer’s governing body FIFA, last July.

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Speaking at his Scottish golf resort, presidential candidate Donald Trump said there is a parallel between the Britain’s vote to leave the E.U. and his bid for the presidency.

“I really do see a parallel between what’s happening in the United States and what’s happening here,” Trump said. “You just have to embrace it, it’s the will of the people.”

Read more

Vice President Biden said the British decision to leave the European Union was not the White House’s desired result.

“I must say we had looked for a different outcome,” Biden said at a speech in Ireland, which remains in the E.U. “We would have preferred a different outcome … but the United States has a long-standing friendship with the United Kingdom and that very special bond will endure.”

Many Russian politicians are cheering Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, The Washington Post’s Andrew Roth reports.

Much of the reaction seems to have been driven by self interest. Sergei Sobyanin, the mayor of Moscow, said that “without Great Britain in the E.U., no one will so zealously defend the sanctions against us.”

Others saw the vote as a loss for the United States. “In my opinion, the most important long-term consequence of all this is that the exit will take Europe away from the anglo-saxons, meaning from the USA. It’s not the independence of Britain from Europe, but the independence of Europe from the USA,” Boris Titov, the Kremlin’s small-business ombudsman, wrote in a Facebook post.

You can read more Russian reactions in Roth’s story here.

After arriving in Scotland, Donald Trump told reporters that voters had “taken their country back.”

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee announced that he will travel to Scotland after the vote on business, not politics, at the beginning of June.

Trump has previously offered his own advice to Britain.

“I would say [the British] are better off without [the E.U.], personally,” Trump previously said, adding the  qualifier: “But I’m not making that as a recommendation, just my feeling.”

Read more here.

Britain’s opposition Labour party leader, Jeremy Corbyn. (Toby Melville / Reuters)

In the aftermath of David Cameron’s announcement that he will resign, there’s also much speculation that Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the left wing Labour Party, could be forced to step down too.

The BBC is reporting that two MPs have submitted a motion of no confidence in Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. While the move has no constitutional force, it will prompt a discussion at the next meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party.

Corbyn had been a supporter of the “remain” campaign, though his seeming lack of enthusiasm led some to wonder if his heart is really in it.

Now some are wondering if Corbyn too should resign. The BBC’s political editor tweeted some details:

Corbyn’s leadership had already been questioned by members of his party before the E.U. vote. A member of the party’s leftist wing, his selection as leader last year took many by surprise.

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In a brief television statement, French President François Hollande said he regrets the British vote to leave the European Union and that the Brexit outcome will be a “grave test for Europe.”

Hollande also called for increased security.

“To move forward, Europe cannot act as before,” he said.

Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, released a joint statement with Mark Schulz, president of the European Council, and others after meeting in Brussels with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker about the Brexit outcome.

“In a free and democratic process, the British people have expressed their wish to leave the European Union. We regret this decision but respect it.

“This is an unprecedented situation but we are united in our response. We will stand strong and uphold the EU’s core values of promoting peace and the well-being of its peoples. The Union of 27 Member States will continue. …

“We now expect the United Kingdom government to give effect to this decision of the British people as soon as possible, however painful that process may be. Any delay would unnecessarily prolong uncertainty.”

Read the full statement here.

Speaking in Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced an emergency meeting with European leaders this week and spoke of her regret over the result of the referendum.

Merkel, a champion of the European project, has been at the heart of the response to its earlier crises, including Greece’s debt implosion.  She now has to cling to the mast as the E.U. faces perhaps its greatest challenge yet. One of her minister’s referred to the day of the referendum as “Black Friday.”

While his support of the ‘leave’ campaign may have helped force him from office, Boris Johnson goes a long way back with David Cameron.

Cameron, who resigned as prime minister on Friday after Britain voted to leave the European Union, was at Oxford University at the same time Johnson. The two were even part of the notorious Bullingdon Club; an exclusive dining club known for its extreme consumption of alcohol and tradition of trashing restaurants.

Speaking to the press on Friday, Johnson had only kind words for his old classmate, calling him one of the most “extraordinary politicians of our age.”

Johnson was among 80 eurosceptic Conservative MPs who had signed a letter saying they wanted Cameron to stay on as Britain’s leader even if “leave” won the E.U. referendum.

Le Pen, the leader of the far right National Front, has also been pushing for France to leave the European Union.

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, has said a new independence referendum is “highly likely.” She said that it was “unacceptable” for Scotland to be extracted from the European Union against its will. It’s unclear if Scotland will vote for independence; the “No” camp won a 2014 referendum comfortably.

A tweet from her Scottish National Party indicated that Sturgeon would initiate the process for a new referendum.

Alex Salmond, Sturgeon’s predecessor and ally, said the E.U. referendum justified a new vote in Scotland.

“The logic would be that Scotland would have the option of remaining within Europe while the rest of the UK left Europe,” he said, “so there would be no logic in saying: let Scotland go out and then come back in again.”

At a press conference on Friday morning, “leave” campaign leader Boris Johnson has said there is no need for Britain to rush to leave the European Union.

Johnson said that Britain should not invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty immediately. This article is the mechanism for member states to leave the E.U.

What Johnson said was in line with comments made by David Cameron today, who announced he would step down as leader and said he would be leaving the decision on Article 50 to his successor.

However, this doesn’t really match what E.U. leaders have been saying. In fact, they say they want Article 50 to be invoked as soon as possible to help end uncertainty.

See also: What will happen now that Britain has voted to leave the E.U.

The map above shows how different parts of Britain voted in the referendum on leaving the European Union.

As you can see, there’s a stark geographical divide in the votes. Scotland and Northern Ireland quite clearly voted to remain in the E.U., as did London. But much of the rest of England and Wales voted to leave.

This geographical divide is one of the reasons that some worry Britain’s vote to leave the E.U. could result in the United Kingdom breaking down.

British voters have made themselves clear: They want Britain to leave the European Union.

But does that mean Britain actually has to leave the E.U.?

Perhaps not, as a number of experts told Raphael Satter of the Associated Press:

“‘Leave’ could mean a million different things,” [Tim Oliver, a fellow at the London School of Economics’ IDEAS foreign policy think tank] said, giving Britain’s political establishment considerable scope to loiter in Europe’s lobby as euroskeptics argue over where the exits are. Some believe Britain is likely to end up more-or-less where it started.

Britain, like other nations roiled by euroskeptic revolts, will simply “negotiate a new agreement, nearly identical to the old one, disguise it in opaque language and ratify it,” Princeton University politics professor Andrew Moravcsik predicted ahead of the referendum.

“The public, essentially ignorant about Europe, always goes along.”

But could British officials really go covertly against the wishes of a majority of voters? Read more here.

Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump arrived in Scotland for the opening of his Turnberry golf course and told reporters that he felt Britain’s decision to leave the European Union was a “great thing.”

Trump had previously offered his support for the Brexit campaign. However, his comments in Scotland may prove controversial.

Most Scots had actually voted to remain in the E.U. And, as The Washington Post’s Jenna Johnson previously reported, Trump’s previous business ventures in the country have been exceptionally unpopular among locals.

Trump also released a statement, which we’ve included below:

The people of the United Kingdom have exercised the sacred right of all free peoples. They have declared their independence from the European Union, and have voted to reassert control over their own politics, borders and economy. A Trump Administration pledges to strengthen our ties with a free and independent Britain, deepening our bonds in commerce, culture and mutual defense. The whole world is more peaceful and stable when our two countries – and our two peoples – are united together, as they will be under a Trump Administration.

Prime Minister David Cameron speaks outside Downing Street on June 24, 2016 in London, England. The results from the historic EU referendum has now been declared and the United Kingdom has voted to LEAVE the European Union. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Britain has voted to leave the European Union by 51.9 percent to 48.1.

Here are some of the key developments so far:

• British Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged to resign.
• The value of the British pound has dropped to its lowest in four decades.
• Financial markets all around the world have reacted negatively.
• Brexit leader Nigel Farage: “The E.U.’s dying.“

Keep watching the liveblog for more updates.