PREDICTIONS even by most experienced futurists sometimes turn out to be wrong. I suppose political analysts and pollsters are now busy finding out where things went wrong. Both sides campaigned very vigor- ously, sometimes with noisy, bruising and often bitter arguments.
Some are now saying that prime minister David Cameron should not have promised a referendum to be held at this time, but there was so much internal pressure from members of his Conservative Party and UKIP nibbling away at the Tory base that he wanted his party to “stop banging on about Europe” and wanted to avoid a repetition of the 19th century situation when the Corn Laws created so much dissent in the Tory party that it went into doldrums for nearly 30 years.
With a majority of only 12, the party might be obliged in future to think of a “coalition”. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was lukewarm during campaigning and many in the party, especially in Scotland, chose not to go to vote. I guess working-class Bangladeshis and Pakistanis may have voted in support of those who wanted Britain out of the EU thinking that with fewer Eastern Europe- ans coming to the UK, there will be more and better jobs available.
Lead campaigner for Vote Leave, Boris Johnson, a political celebrity in London, does not have many friends among the party ranks, but has the pulling power with the public. Now the Brexiteer have had their day. I would think that the Bank of England will have arranged massive swope lines with the European Central Bank and other Banks such as the Fed and the BoJ to enhance the liquidity and if possible the BofE may reduce the interest rate. Notwithstanding BofE’s action, some money will have already flowed into gold, haven currencies etc. This is what traders do as defensive positioning and this is how they make money.
Kulsuma Aktergetty images