The United Kingdom is voting today in a crucial vote to decide whether they will remain in the European Union or leave. Both the ‘remain’ and ‘leave’ campaigns have remained neck-to-neck and the vote is too close to call at this point.
Unlike normal general elections there won’t be any exit polls at 10 pm. London time, or 5 pm. Eastern Time, when the voting stations close, so anyone nervously waiting for the outcome will have to stay awake and watch for local results to trickle out overnight.
The ‘leave’ campaign, headed by ex London mayor, Boris Johnson has stressed the need to exit the EU due to a threat to UK sovereignty, a weak Euro and tough regulations in the EU that hurt the UK economy.
Another ‘leave’ campaign supporter, Nigel Farrage, leader of the right wing ‘UKIP’ party feels that due to the EU membership, Britain is prone to terrorism because of the migrant crisis in Europe that will trickle down into the UK.
The ‘remain’ campaign has also made its case by stating that a Brexit would hurt the UK economy and the migrant crisis can be controlled through efficient border management. Foreign leader like US President Obama and other European leaders have also expressed their concern over a possible Brexit. Their biggest concern is the impact the exit would have on trade and the overall economy.
Read more: Sadiq Khan tears into pro-Brexit campaigners
The campaign also took a violent and gruesome turn last week when an English member of the parliament, Jo Cox was brutally murdered by stabbing and shooting for her views about Britain not exiting the EU. She was killed by a supporter of the ‘leave’ campaign.
The British pound has also been very volatile in the past week. Against the USD, it took a nosedive from 1.46 to 1.40 on Friday only to recover in the past two days to come up to 1.47. At time of writing the GBP/USD pair is hovering around 1.4743 after a high of 1.4900 yesterday when markets closed.
UK time is ‘minus 4 hours Pakistan Standard Time’.
