As it happened: The Brexit vote

  • 24/06/2016
(Getty)
(Getty)

6:07pm

Well, with 100 percent of the vote counted, the result is now concrete -- the United Kingdom will leave the European Union.

You can read the full article on the Brexit here -- and find out what effect it'll have on the markets here.

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6pm

Labour MPs appear to have been given a handout to cope with the barrage of questions they are expected to receive from journalists in the wake of the Brexit.

The script has been leaked though, which will make those interviews a little more tricky as they seek to come up with up some original material.

As it happened: The Brexit vote

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5:49pm

The husband of Jo Cox, a Labour MP shockingly shot and stabbed in West Yorkshire last week, has tweeted in response to the imminent Brexit.

He says his wife would have "remained optimistic" despite the result.

As it happened: The Brexit vote

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5:33pm

It's been an increasingly crazy day in the markets as it gradually became clearer that the Leave camp would win the referendum.

The fall in the Pound's value is the largest one-day decrease in the currency ever, and is already having a huge effect on global markets.

The UK still trades in the same market as the EU for the time being, but that arrangement will soon conclude, which will likely have severe economic repercussions.

As it happened: The Brexit vote

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British PM David Cameron is expected to make a speech any minute now -- but the big question is: will he be announcing his resignation?

Some MPs have said he should stand down ahead of the new era of independence.

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5:13pm

Northumberland becomes the latest area to vote in favour of a Brexit -- and that's it, according to the Associated Press!

They say the Leave camp has officially been successful in it's attempt to leave the EU.

Celebration time for Leave campaigners like UKIP's Nigel Farage.

As it happened: The Brexit vote

(Reuters)

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5:01pm

With 96.2 percent of the votes counted, Leave remains ahead of Remain by 3.5 percent, and on track for a win.

Polling expert Professor John Curtice told the BBC exactly what he thought went down in the EU referendum.

"This is a referendum in which a cosmopolitan socially liberal Britain was outvoted by a more socially conservative part of the country that is deeply concerned by immigration."

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4:47pm

There's speculation that British Prime Minister David Cameron, one of the driving forces behind the Remain campaign, may be resigning from his position.

BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg says the government is "negotiating the terms" with former London mayor Boris Johnson.

As it happened: The Brexit vote

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4:36pm

With all the hullaballoo surrounding what leaving the European Union will mean for the UK, spare a though for Scotland.

They came very close to becoming an independent country last year, and now they are probably out of the EU despite every area voting to stay in.

Co-convener of the Scottish Greens, Patrick Harvie, says the Brexit campaign has been "deceitful, manipulative and at times downright racist".

"The Scottish Parliament and government must be represented in the negotiations about what comes next," he said.

"A cross-party plan of action should be sought, so we can defend our rights as EU citizens."

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4:14pm

With 319 of the 382 council areas in the UK counted, the Leave camp are on track for an almost certain victory.

Of those 319 counted, 102 voted to remain in the European Union, while 217 voted to leave.

While those figures appear to show overwhelming support for Leave, they are slightly misleading. As stated previously, a lot of the larger areas were forecasted to vote to Remain -- hence why the voting is still relatively close.

Leave are now more than a million votes ahead, according to Reuters.

As it happened: The Brexit vote

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4:02pm

Here's a look at what happened when the Leave camp started to pull away earlier in the afternoon.

As it happened: The Brexit vote

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3:58pm

Forecasts from the BBC and ITV -- Britain's two biggest broadcasters -- suggest the Leave camp has won this referendum.

They predict it'll finish with a four percent win to Leave -- Leave at 52 percent, Remain at 48 percent.

As it happened: The Brexit vote

Labour's Chuka Umunna says Leave campaigners now have to meet the "huge expectations" on a significant reduction in immigration -- a feat she doesn't think they'll manage.

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3:47pm

Northern Ireland has one council area left to count, but Remain is in the lead there, 55.3 percent to 46.7 percent.

That doesn't look like it'll be enough though -- a win for the Leave camp has been predicted by both the BBC and ITV.

That belief is further compounded by Leave wins in Southampton and Birmingham.

Remain have a substantial amount of ground to make up. They're 800,000 votes behind overall.

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3:34pm

Kim Dotcom's loving seeing the Leave camp leading the race. He's sent a series of pun-tastic tweets in hopes of spurring a number of other nations to leave the European Union.

As it happened: The Brexit vote

In other Brexit-related news, online clothing site ASOS has crashed as people race to buy clothes while the British Pound is at such low levels.

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3:29pm

Farage may not be smiling now, though, after making what comes across as an insensitive comment relating to the death of Labour MP Jo Cox.

He says if Leave win, they will have achieved victory "without a bullet being fired". Jo Cox died last week when she was shot and stabbed in West Yorkshire.

Farage is receiving heavy criticism for his comments on social media, and may have some apologising to do.

Here's the latest on the vote so far, via Reuters.

As it happened: The Brexit vote

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3:20pm

The leader of the UK's Independence Party, Nigel Farage, says David Cameron should resign as Prime Minister if the Remain camp loses.

He says if predictions for a Leave win are correct, then it will be a win real for "real people, ordinary people, decent people".

A photo emerges on Twitter of him looking fairly relaxed, with beer in hand, as Leave edges about 600,000 votes ahead.

As it happened: The Brexit vote

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3:13pm

A big win for the Remain camp comes through, as 60.4 percent of Manchester votes against the Brexit. Scotland follows suit, as anticipated.

Immediately after, though, Wales votes Leave -- 17 of their 21 local areas voted in favour of leaving the European Union.

Leave are well and truly in the lead, and have 51.1 percent of the total votes so far. They need 16.8 million more to win.

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2:59pm

The Pound has now dropped to its lowest level since 2009, falling from $1.50 earlier to $1.37.

UKIP leader Nigel Farage is feeling optimistic, as the Leave camp surges almost 500,000 votes ahead, with about 18 million counted.

As it happened: The Brexit vote

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2:50pm

The pound's value is falling dramatically as Team Leave starts to spread the gap a little wider.

Northern Ireland is on course for a win for the Remain camp -- but not quite to the same degree as was forecasted.

It looks as though Wales will vote for Leave, though. They have 54.3 percent of the vote with 18 of 21 areas counted.

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2:40pm

Scotland's foot has stayed firmly in the Remain camp. Every Scottish area counted thus far has voted against a Brexit.

But that's not stopping Leave's momentum -- they're first to approach the 8 million vote mark, and have 51.3 percent of voters as it stands.

The Pound continues to plummet...

As it happened: The Brexit vote