LONDON
(AP) -- Britain's shocking decision to remove itself from the European
Union brought more political turmoil Sunday as Scotland's leader
threatened to block the move and the opposition Labour Party's leader
faced a coup attempt from his own legislators.
The
sense of unease spread as European leaders stepped up the pressure on
Britain to begin its complex exit from the 28-nation EU immediately,
rather than wait several months as British Prime Minister David Cameron
prefers.
The vote to leave sent the pound and
global stock markets plunging. Britain's Treasury said finance minister
George Osborne would make an early morning statement Monday "to provide
reassurance about financial and economic stability" before the London
Stock Exchange reopens.
The leaders of the
successful campaign to leave the EU stayed largely out of the public
eye, as opponents accused them of lacking a plan to calm the crisis the
result has triggered. In his first statement since Friday morning,
"leave" leader and former London Mayor Boris Johnson used his column in
the Daily Telegraph newspaper to urge unity and say "the negative
consequences (of the vote) are being wildly overdone."
He
said Britain would forge "a new and better relationship with the EU -
based on free trade and partnership, rather than a federal system."
The
vote, however, risks causing a political schism in the United Kingdom.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she would "consider"
advising the Scottish Parliament to try to use its power to prevent
Britain from actually leaving the EU. She said Scottish lawmakers might
be able to derail the move by withholding "legislative consent" for a
British exit, or Brexit.
"If the Scottish
Parliament was judging this on the basis of what's right for Scotland,
then the option of saying 'We're not going to vote for something that is
against Scotland's interests,' of course, that is on the table," she
said of the possibility of withholding consent.
Sturgeon
said she believes Scotland's approval is required for the move but
conceded the British government would likely take "a very different
view."
Thursday's U.K.-wide vote to leave the
EU was very unpopular in Scotland, where 62 percent cast ballots to
stay, and Sturgeon says she is studying ways to keep Scotland part of
the EU bloc.
The Scottish question looms large
because Sturgeon also has said another referendum on Scottish
independence from Britain is "highly likely" as a result of Britain's EU
vote. A Scottish referendum in 2014 ended with voters deciding to
remain in Britain, but analysts believe Britain's withdrawal from the EU
may strengthen the independence movement.
In
Northern Ireland, which also is part of the U.K., Deputy First Minister
Martin McGuinness said his priority is forging "special arrangements" to
enable Northern Ireland to maintain its EU ties. Some Brexit opponents
have also talked of trying to use Northern Ireland's Assembly to try to
block Britain's departure.
Northern Ireland
voters also expressed a preference for keeping Britain in the EU. The
unhappiness with the results in both Scotland and Northern Ireland is
adding to the sense that the Brexit vote may over time lead to the
breakup of the United Kingdom.
Northern
Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers, Cameron's lead official in Belfast,
played down the suggestion that the Scottish Parliament or the Northern
Ireland Assembly had the standing to prevent a British departure from
the EU.
She said decision-making power resides
solely in the British Parliament, which is expected to abide by the
results of the referendum, which showed 52 percent of British voters
wanted out.
"In the weeks and months ahead, we
will be working with both the Scottish government and the Northern
Ireland executive on all these matters," she told BBC. "But ultimately
it is (the British) Parliament's decision."
Adam
Tomkins, a law professor and member of the Scottish Parliament, agreed
with this assessment. The Conservative Party legislator tweeted that it
was "nonsense" to suggest the Scottish party could block a British
departure simply by withholding consent.
The
vote is already cutting short Cameron's career. He said after the
results that he will resign as prime minister when the Conservative
Party chooses a new leader, who will be charged with implementing the
separation from the EU.
The new party leader,
who will become prime minister, is expected to be in place by October.
At that point, he or she may choose to call a quick election to solidify
a mandate - and the prospect of an election in the near future may have
spurred a revolt Sunday against Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn that has
been simmering for months.
Corbyn, a longtime
critic of the EU who was criticized by many for doing a weak job
presenting the party's position favoring membership, for the first time
faces an open rebellion from senior members of his "shadow cabinet" -
the opposition party's mirror government of senior lawmakers.
Eleven
"shadow cabinet"members resigned Sunday after Corbyn fired shadow
Foreign Secretary Hilary Benn overnight for reportedly plotting a
rebellion against him. The dissidents want Corbyn, who represents the
far-left wing of the party, ousted before the next general election
because many believe he cannot win.
In her resignation letter, shadow Heath Secretary Heidi Alexander bluntly told Corbyn he had to go.
"I
do not believe you have the capacity to shape the answers our country
is demanding and I believe that if we are to form the next government, a
change of leadership is essential," she wrote.
In
a statement released late Sunday, Corbyn said he would not resign and
would run in any new leadership contest. Senior allies said he still has
strong support among the party's rank-and-file members, who chose him
as leader last year.
"I regret there have been
resignations today from my shadow cabinet," Corbyn said. "But I am not
going to betray the trust of those who voted for me - or the millions of
supporters across the country who need Labour to represent them."
Concerns about last week's EU referendum ranged far beyond U.K. politics.
In
Rome, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged Britain and the EU to
manage their divorce responsibly for the sake of global markets and
citizens. On Monday, he will be the first senior U.S. official to visit
London and Brussels since the referendum, and he said he would bring a
message of U.S. support to both capitals.
Pope
Francis urged the EU to come up with creative ways to stay together
following Britain's vote, saying it's clear "something isn't working in
this unwieldy union."
"The European Union must
rediscover the strength at its roots, a creativity and a healthy
disunity, of giving more independence and more freedom to the countries
of the union," the pontiff told reporters as he flew home from Armenia.
The key, he said, is to rekindle the will to stay together with "creativity and new life."
