British PM sends unsigned letter seeking Brexit delay

LONDON, United Kingdom — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson reluctantly wrote to Brussels late Saturday asking for a Brexit extension after MPs voted to force him into seeking a delay beyond October 31.

But Johnson, who has pinned his premiership on getting Britain out of the European Union on time, refused to sign the letter he sent to European Council President Donald Tusk.


The Conservative leader also sent a second signed letter insisting he was not seeking an extension to the Brexit deadline, which has already been postponed twice.

In a day of high drama in the House of Commons, MPs declined to give their backing to the revised withdrawal agreement Johnson struck with the EU this week until the legislation needed to ratify it has passed.

Having failed to back a divorce deal, they triggered a law requiring Johnson to write to EU leaders by the end of the day asking to delay Brexit, to avoid the risk that Britain crashes out in less than a fortnight.

Johnson sent a photocopy of the letter that was contained in the law requiring him to ask for the delay, but did not sign it, showed a copy released by his Downing Street office early Sunday.

He wrote and signed another letter which made clear he does not want to delay Brexit beyond the end of this month.

“Regrettably, parliament missed the opportunity to inject momentum into the ratification process,” Johnson wrote in the signed letter, regretting that EU leaders would now have to spend yet more time on Brexit.

“A further extension would damage the interests of the UK and our EU partners, and the relationship between us. We must bring this process to a conclusion.”

Johnson nonetheless said he remained “confident” of completing the ratification process by October 31.

A third cover letter written by Britain’s EU ambassador Tim Barrow made clear that the Brexit delay request letter was only being sent to comply with the law.


Tusk consults EU chiefs

“I will now start consulting EU leaders on how to react,” Tusk said on Twitter.

An EU source told AFP that the process “may take a few days” and declined to comment on the non-signature.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said the prime minister had spoken to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Tusk.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he had discussed the situation with Johnson and “wished him success in the next stages” in the Commons.

Being forced to send the letter after Saturday’s defeat was a blow to Johnson, who has previously said he would rather be “dead in a ditch” than prolong the tortuous process of ending Britain’s 46-year-old membership of the EU.

Brussels urged Britain to explain its plan as soon as possible, while Macron’s office said a new delay to Brexit was “in nobody’s interest”.

Johnson beaten 322-306

Securing the new divorce treaty at Thursday’s EU summit had been a personal victory for the prime minister, a figurehead in the Leave campaign in Britain’s 2016 EU membership referendum.

He had spent 48 hours frantically trying to persuade MPs to back it, and won support from many of the eurosceptic Conservatives who had three times rejected a previous divorce agreement secured by his predecessor Theresa May.


But parliament — like the frustrated public — is still bitterly divided over how and even whether Britain should end decades of integration with its closest trading partner.

MPs voted by 322 to 306 to back a motion by former Conservative minister Oliver Letwin that “withholds approval (of the deal) unless and until implementing legislation is passed”.

They were meeting on a Saturday for the first time since the 1982 Falklands War.

While MPs voted inside parliament, outside, more than 100,000 people marched to demand a new referendum that could reverse Brexit.

Demonstrators erupted into cheers at the news from inside the Commons.

“That’s really good, that’s one step away from Brexit,” demonstrator Philip Dobson told AFP.

“Reject Brexit”, “Put It To The People” and “Stop This Madness” read some of the placards at the mass march, where many protesters also waved EU flags.

Legislation next week

The British government will introduce legislation next week to implement the divorce deal, with a first vote as soon as Tuesday.

The government also wants another vote on the deal on Monday, which may not be possible.


There is a chance the deal could pass, and Britain could still leave the EU on October 31, but there remains strong opposition to the agreement among MPs.

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

UK’s reputation takes global hit with Parliament shutdown

LONDON — It’s long been known that Britain’s Parliament building must be vacated for urgent repairs that will take years and cost billions, but the problem now goes beyond the water leaks and vermin infestation to Britain’s global reputation as a model of democracy-in-action.

In parts of the world where Britain’s parliamentary system and adherence to the rule of law provided a model to emerging nations, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s brusque decision to shut down Parliament for crucial weeks ahead of the looming Brexit deadline is seen by some as proof that Britain, too, can be subject to a power grab.


Johnson’s gambit may pay off if he is able to make Brexit a reality on Oct. 31 without doing grave damage to Britain’s economy, but the widely held perception that he is shuttering Parliament to squelch debate (despite his claims to the contrary) has been roundly condemned in key parts of the former British Empire, including some where Queen Elizabeth II is still accorded the status of head of state.

Many Britons — politicians and the public alike — have a lofty view of the country’s role in world affairs, emphasizing its seat on the United Nations Security Council, its nuclear arsenal, and its traditional influence in trouble spots like the Middle East. But the prolonged impasse over Brexit, which was approved more than three years ago but still hasn’t taken place, has taken a toll on how much of the world views Britain’s vaunted political institutions.

Nicholas Sengoba, a columnist in the former British colony of Uganda, said Johnson’s action shows that Britain is not immune to the abuse of power that has plagued some African nations. “The whole notion that a British prime minister cannot be as powerful as an African dictator has been stripped off,” he said.

The prolonged Brexit stalemate in Britain has made the former colonial power “look extremely bad” because there is no clear leadership and no consensus on what the actual consequences of a “no deal” Brexit might be, he said.

Britain’s longstanding reputation for openness and fair play has been tarnished by a years-long rift in the opposition Labour Party over whether party chief Jeremy Corbyn and his top advisers tolerate anti-Semitism — there has even been a police investigation of some party members — and a desire to keep foreigners from settling in Britain under liberal European Union regulations was at least in part responsible for the 2016 Brexit vote in favor of leaving the 28-nation bloc.


Many academics warn that the loss of EU funding, and a stiffening of rules that made it easy for Europeans to study, research and teach in Britain, will lower the standards of Britain’s world-class scientific and medical institutions, and perhaps even dim the quality of the country’s brilliant arts scene. Even the respected royal family is not untouched, with new photographs and stories that document Prince Andrew’s association with pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself in prison in August.

Some have also been surprised by the queen’s role in the shutdown of Parliament. As head of state in a constitutional monarchy, Queen Elizabeth II is required to maintain strict neutrality on all political issues, which left her little choice but to approve Johnson’s request to shutter Parliament for a longer-than-usual time period.

No one outside her closest family members and inner circle of advisers is likely to ever know whether she felt Johnson’s request was appropriate or gave the executive branch too much power by limiting debate in the legislature, just as no one in the media or public can say with certainty how the queen feels on the underlying question of whether it is wise for Britain to leave the EU.

Britain’s tortured path toward Brexit — perhaps now nearing its climax — has exacted a price. In New Zealand, another former colony, the latest moves by Johnson have provoked some talk about whether it’s time to change its status as a constitutional monarchy with Elizabeth as a figurehead head of state (she does, after all, reside nearly 12,000 miles away) and instead transform into a republic.



In a satirical tweet, newspaper columnist Dave Armstrong wrote that it would be dangerous for New Zealand to become a republic “as it would sever our ties with the UK — a stable parliamentary democracy where coups, dictatorships and tyranny by the minority simply doesn’t occur. Discuss.”

University of Otago professor Robert Patman told a New Zealand newspaper that other countries are suspicious that Britain, which he described as gripped by its worst economic and diplomatic crisis since World War II, is behaving like a banana republic, and those suspicions have been deepened by Johnson’s latest actions.

“At the moment there’s a very dangerous situation in the U.K.,” he said.

Johnson’s suspension spawned protests in many British cities Saturday, a phenomenon familiar in Canada, where the queen is still the head of state. Former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper sparked major protests after he suspended Parliament in 2008 and 2009, but the protests eventually dwindled and he managed to remain in power despite a no-confidence vote accusing his government of contempt of Parliament.

The influential Toronto newspaper The Globe and Mail said in an editorial that Johnson’s suspension of Parliament must be reversed: “It’s wrong. It’s undemocratic. It certainly isn’t British,” the newspaper said.

A cartoon in the Toronto Star newspaper showed Johnson with the queen on a boat that’s about to go over a waterfall. Johnson says: “Hold on to your knickers, not even democracy can stop me now!”

The spectacle of Britain’s prolonged political impasse over Brexit, and now the decision to shutter Parliament at a key time, is contributing to a sense in Canada that the old colonial power is in decline.

Robert Bothwell, a University of Toronto professor of Canadian history, said Britain has been receding in the Canadian consciousness since the 1960s.

“There is about a 150-degree change in the way Canadians see Britain since the 1960s,” he said. “It’s not gone but it doesn’t exercise the same political economic draw as it did fifty years ago.”

/atm

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

iPhone 7 to cost more in India and UK

The much-awaited Apple iPhone 7 was just introduced on Wednesday with pre-orders becoming available Sept. 9. However, there is some bad news for fans of the iPhone from the UK and India as the devices will cost a lot more than the US release.

The iPhone 7 has been given a a suggested retail price of $649 for the 32GB basic model while the Plus will start at $769. Unfortunately, The Next Web reports that there will be a significant markup for the Indian market which will raise the price to around $903 (Rs60,000). UK buyers will have it easier with just a $60 increase from the base US price, or £599 on the Apple website.

The higher prices can be attributed to the Brexit side effects where many economists already predicted that prices would increase during the run-up to the vote.

The Indian market, however, is a bit more complicated. The higher price is a result of Apple taking into account the sales tax for selling the product. They also sell through third-party partners and that requires a margin for them to make a profit. Lastly is a price buffer to compensate for fluctuations in value of the Indian rupee.

India’s woes may not last long as a recent foreign direct investment ruling in the country will allow Apple to open its own local retail stores, thereby eliminating the middleman.

Apple is currently considering opening up shops in major cities like Bangalore, Mumbai and New Delhi by the end of 2017.  Alfred Bayle

source: technology.inquirer.net

Pound slumps against euro, dollar

NEW YORK, United States — The British pound slumped to a fresh three-year low against the euro Monday and edged lower on the dollar, as signs of weakness mounted in the British economy.

At 86.80 pence on the euro, the pound was at its weakest level since August 2013.

Meanwhile sterling fell to $1.2883, just barely above its $1.2798 post-Brexit vote level that marked a three-decade low against the US greenback.

The currency’s fall came as data from Britain showed London residential rents fell for the first time in six years in July, amid worries the June 23 vote to exit the European Union was already having an impact on the economy.

The rental data came on the heels of numbers showing home prices fell for the second straight month.

“In the month of August, the British pound has been the weakest currency and the trend continued today,” said Kathy Lien of BK Asset Management.

“The main reason why the currency is weak is because investors are worried about this week’s UK economic reports.”

Even if the formal moves to leave the European Union will not be taken by the government until next year, Lien said, “the damage has been done and consequences are just beginning to appear.”

source: business.inquirer.net

G20 nations warn of Brexit risk to global growth

CHENGDU, China — Britain’s vote to leave the European Union heightens risks for the world economy, finance chiefs from the G20 group of leading countries said Sunday at a meeting in China.

The outcome of last month’s referendum “adds to the uncertainty in the global economy,” the meeting’s host, Chinese finance minister Lou Jiwei, said after it concluded.

But he added that EU member countries were “well positioned to proactively address the potential economic and financial consequences stemming from the UK referendum.”

The issue has come to the forefront of the G20’s concerns at the meeting in Chengdu, the last before the grouping’s annual summit, to be held in the Chinese city of Hangzhou in September.

Ahead of the meeting the International Monetary Fund (IMF) downgraded its forecast for global growth this year, and officials in Chengdu said protracted talks between the EU and Britain over the departure could heighten risks.

“It won’t mean that they’ll get there in a week or a month. It’s a process that could take longer,” a senior US Treasury official told journalists on Saturday.

“The thing that would be very disruptive to confidence is if this becomes a highly confrontational process,” he said.

Britain’s new finance minister Philip Hammond on Saturday met his German counterpart Wolfgang Schaeuble and tweeted: “We agree we need a deal that works for the people of Britain & Germany.”

At a family photo on Sunday, Hammond was seated in the front row, but spent most of the event conversing only with one of his neighbors, World Bank president Jim Yong Kim.

‘More negative outcomes’

The IMF has expressed alarm over Britain’s looming departure from the EU.

“‘Brexit’ marks the materialization of an important downside risk to global growth,” IMF staff said in a report ahead of the meeting.

The IMF recently lowered its forecasts for global growth this year and next by 0.1 percentage point, to 3.1 percent and 3.4 percent respectively.

“But with ‘Brexit’ still very much unfolding, more negative outcomes are a distinct possibility,” the report said.

Other challenges threaten: a slowdown in the Chinese economy, as well as terrorist attacks and the failed coup in Turkey — which have rattled financial markets.

China’s economy, the world’s second largest, is caught in a fundamental transition to making domestic consumption the key driver instead of massive public spending and cheap exports.

Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek, who attended the meeting, said on Twitter that the attempted putsch against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would not merit mention in the final communique.

At an earlier meeting in Chinese commercial hub Shanghai in February, the G20 finance chiefs agreed to use “all policy tools” including monetary easing, fiscal spending and structural change to boost growth.

The IMF has called on some countries, notably Germany and the United States, to boost spending on infrastructure, which has been opposed by Berlin.

“The world economy is beleaguered with many serious problems,” China’s Lou said on Saturday.

“We should make monetary policy more forward-looking and transparent, enhance the effectiveness of fiscal policy… so as to support stronger recovery of the world economy.”/rga

source: business.inquirer.net

Stocks up on hope of UK stimulus, eurozone Brexit resilience

LONDON — Stock markets turned higher on Friday after surveys suggested the eurozone economy is proving resilient to the uncertainty surrounding Britain’s Brexit vote. A big drop in business activity in the U.K. raised expectations of more central bank stimulus there.

KEEPING SCORE: Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.4 percent to 6,728 and Germany’s DAX was up 0.1 percent to 10,163. France’s CAC 40 gained 0.3 percent to 4,388. U.S. futures indicate a positive opening on Wall Street. Dow and S&P futures were both up 0.2 percent.

BREXIT IMPACT: A survey of services and manufacturing in the 19-country eurozone declined only modestly in July, suggesting the currency bloc has not suffered much damage so far from Britain’s vote to leave the European Union. The contrary was found in an equivalent survey of business activity in Britain, which indicated the country’s economy was shrinking at its fastest pace since early 2009.

ANALYSTS’ VIEW: Edoardo Campanella, economist at UniCredit, said that while the Brexit vote may yet affect the eurozone with some time lag, Friday’s report is “consistent with our view that most of the economic damages will be concentrated in the U.K.”

Britain’s survey, on the other hand, was “truly horrible,” according to Howard Archer, economist at IHS Global Insight. It “boosts the case for the Bank of England to come up with a substantial package of measures at its Aug. 4 meeting.”

ASIA’S DAY: Earlier, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.1 percent to 16,627.25 after the Bank of Japan governor, Haruhiko Kuroda, was cited ruling out direct cash injections to the economy. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index shed 0.2 percent to 21,964.27. China’s Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.9 percent at 3,012.82. Australia’s S&P ASX 200 slipped 0.3 percent to 5,498.20. South Korea’s KOSPI edged down 0.1 percent at 2,010.34. Southeast Asian markets were down.

OIL: U.S. crude shed 6 cents to $44.69 in New York. On Thursday, it sank $1. Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose 4 cents to $46.24, after falling 97 cents on Thursday.

CURRENCIES: The pound plunged against the dollar on the prospect of more stimulus from the Bank of England. It was down 1 percent at $1.3104, from $1.3280 the previous day. The dollar rose to 106.08 yen from 105.76 and the euro fell to $1.1017 from $1.1027. TVJ

source: business.inquirer.net

Stocks down slightly after 5-day winning streak

NEW YORK — Stocks are falling slightly in morning trading Friday as the market breaks a five-day winning streak that sent major indexes to fresh highs. Bond yields climbed. Technology and consumer discretionary stocks are dropping the most.

KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average fell 2 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 18,504 at 11:32 a.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 3 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,161. The Nasdaq composite fell 6 points, or 0.1 percent, to 5,028.

THE QUOTE: After the recent gains, “you have to be concerned. Are we going to see more slowing of the global economy?” said Bill Stone, chief investment officer at PNC Asset Management. “What is going to be the real impact of Brexit?”

SUPPLEMENT SURGE: Herbalife rose $9.21, or nearly 16 percent, to $68.57 after The Federal Trade Commission decided not to classify the nutritional supplements company as a pyramid scheme, as was alleged by investor Bill Ackman. The company did agreed, however, to pay $200 million to resolve allegations that it deceived consumers.

BANK BLUES: Wells Fargo fell $1.21, or 2.5 percent, to $47.73 after the consumer banking giant reported that second-quarter earnings fell.

INFLATION CHECK: The Labor Department reported consumer prices rose a modest 1 percent in June from a year ago, well below the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent inflation target. The Fed, which meets July 26-27, wants to see evidence that inflation is ticking up before raising interest rates.

SHOPPING MORE: The Commerce Department reported that U.S. retail sales rose a robust 2.7 percent in June from a year earlier. Consumer spending accounts for about two-third of economic output in the U.S., much higher than in many other developed countries.

ATTACK IN FRANCE: Trading was subdued in Europe after a man drove a truck into crowds celebrating Bastille Day along the beachfront of Nice, killing at least 84 people.

EUROPE SLIPS: France’s CAC-40 was down 0.6 percent while Germany’s DAX fell 0.2 percent. Britain’s FTSE 100 was flat.

TRAVEL SLUMP: Travel-related stocks fell in the wake of the attack. Cruise operator Royal Caribbean fell $1.26, or 1.8 percent, to $70.63 and Delta Air Lines fell 97 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $40.01.

CHINA GROWTH: The Chinese government says its economy expanded at a steady 6.7 percent in the April-June period as spending on construction by state-owned companies in the world’s second-largest economy helped compensate for weak private sector demand.

ASIA’S DAY: Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.7 percent. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong climbed 0.5 percent and South Korea’s Kospi index added 0.4 percent.

BONDS AND CURRENCIES: Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.59 percent from 1.54 percent. The euro fell to $1.1076 from $1.1123 and the dollar rose to 105.93 yen from 105.43 yen.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 38 cents to $46.06 a barrel in New York, while Brent crude, a standard for international oil prices, rose 44 cents to $47.81 a barrel in London. TVJ

source: business.inquirer.net

Pound sinks below $1.30 on Brexit jitters

NEW YORK, United States — The pound sank below $1.30 on Wednesday as growing worries about Britain’s vote to leave the European Union pushed investors toward safe haven assets.

“Sterling hit fresh lows against all of the major currencies and while there was no news to explain the move, the sharp sell-off sent fresh jitters across the financial markets, driving investors into the safety of the US dollar, Japanese yen and gold,” said Kathy Lien of BK Asset Management.

The pound sank to $1.2798 at one point, its lowest level since June 1985, before recovering somewhat. The British currency dropped 1.0 percent against the euro at 85.88 pence.

The euro strengthened slightly against the dollar, up 0.2 percent at $1.1097.

“The eurozone is hardly sheltered from the UK’s troubles and there could be a banking sector crisis brewing in Italy but for now, the greater concern is clearly Britain,” Lien said in a client note.

The dollar was little moved by the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s June 14-15 policy meeting, which showed Fed officials divided over US growth prospects as they kept rates on hold.

Omer Esiner of Commonwealth Foreign Exchange said the dollar stands to benefit from continued aversion to risk, but that the outlook for the Fed leaving rates unchanged through 2016 was likely to keep its upside limited.

“Even upcoming economic data, like the all-important payrolls report for June this Friday, may have a limited impact on the dollar as the Brexit story continues to dominate market focus,” he said.

source: business.inquirer.net

Oil prices up as global markets recover post-Brexit

SINGAPORE, Singapore—Oil prices rose in Asia on Friday as traders welcomed assurances from central bank around the world that they were ready to step in to prevent a global rout following Britain’s vote to leave the European Union.

After the initial shock of last Thursday’s referendum sparked a freefall, this week has seen a broad recovery across all asset classes.

South Korea has promised of $17 billion in stimulus and speculation swirls that Japan is planning to further loosen monetary policy while the chances of the US raising interest rates have all but evaporated.

On Thursday Bank of England boss Mark Carney hinted that policymakers were contemplating a cut in interest rates.

The news sent European and US shares soaring, and Asian traders picked up the baton Friday to press more gains.

The optimism filtered through to the oil market and at about 0315 GMT, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for August delivery was up 34 cents, or 0.70 percent, at $48.67.

Brent for September, a new contract, was up 39 cents, or 0.78 percent, at $50.10.

“Investors seemed to be finding reasons to be optimistic about the post-Brexit rebound,” said IG Markets analyst Bernard Aw.

CMC Markets analyst Margaret Yang said equity markets were on the rise partly because “the Bank of England hinted that more monetary stimulus is on the roadmap to battle the post-Brexit economic fallout.”

Oil market watchers said last week’s decline in US commercial inventories is also helping boost prices, but a sustained price rise will only come if producers make meaningful cuts in output.

The drop in US crude stockpiles “is certainly supportive” of prices, David Lennox, a resource analyst at Fat Prophets in Sydney, told Bloomberg News.

“But the market is waiting for real production cuts, and until that happens any strong rally in the oil price is just not going to be sustainable,” he said.

source: business.inquirer.net

Oil prices up in Asia but tremors over Brexit remain

SINGAPORE — World oil prices rebounded in Asia Tuesday on bargain hunting but tremors from Britain’s shock vote last week to leave the European Union continue to weigh on sentiment.

Financial markets are still reeling from Brexit’s fallout as investors sell riskier assets and flock to safe bets amid global economic uncertainty.

Asian stock markets resumed their losses early Tuesday, extending another sharp sell-off in Europe and New York.

At around 0330 GMT, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in August was up 64 cents, or 1.38 percent, to $46.97 and Brent crude for August gained 60 cents, or 1.27 percent, to $47.76 a barrel.

Both contracts closed lower on Monday.

“The turmoil in the financial markets, triggered by the UK referendum results, is keeping the pressure on oil prices, which look set to clock a monthly loss in June,” said IG Markets Singapore analyst Bernard Aw.

“The lack of guidance from the UK government and the prospects of a leadership struggle continued to dampen investors’ appetite, and this should persist through the week,” he told AFP.

British Prime Minister David Cameron quit in the wake of the vote and the race is on to find his successor as party leader who would take over as prime minister.

Former London mayor Boris Johnson and Interior Minister Theresa May are considered to be the front-runners in the leadership race.

Policy makers in Europe are trying to calm global markets but analysts said uncertainty remains.

“Apart from economic considerations, concerns are that the Brexit vote could encourage other EU countries to seek their own referendums, including Netherlands, France, Spain and Greece,” DBS Bank said in a note.

It said “this could potentially revisit the EU breakup fears that plagued the region” a few years back.

A strengthening US currency — considered a safe investment in times of turmoil — will likely continue to dampen demand for dollar-priced oil which would become more expensive for holders of weaker units, Aw added.

source: business.inquirer.net

Britain’s EU workers gripped by fear, confusion, heartache

LONDON — A tsunami of uncertainty has engulfed Anna Woydyla, a Polish restaurant worker in London, since Britain voted to leave the European Union.

Would her two teenage children, who grew up in the United Kingdom, still qualify for loans to study at British universities? Would she and her husband, after 11 years of working here, have to sell the home they just bought? Leave their jobs? Leave their new country? Try to apply for citizenship?

The 41-year-old is among hundreds of thousands of European Union workers in Britain who are fearful and confused over what happens next as their adoptive country begins the long process of unwinding its many ties to continental Europe.

“If it were just me, I could even return to Poland,” a visibly tense Woydyla said as she stocked a bar in an Italian restaurant in London’s Camden district. “But my kids are more English than Polish. They don’t even want to go to Poland for their holidays anymore. They even speak to each other in English.”

An entire class of cosmopolitan entrepreneurs, workers, students and strivers who have made the U.K. their home since Britain opened its borders to its EU neighbors now see their futures in limbo. The immigrants changed the face of Britain, turning London’s Kensington neighborhood into a suburb of Paris, changing sleepy English towns like Boston into Baltic enclaves, filling supermarket shelves across the nation with Polish lager and Wiejska sausage.

“I personally cannot tell what’s going to change for me,” said Andrea Cordaro, a 21-year-old Italian student who compared the shock of hearing the referendum’s result to the punch-in-the-gut feeling of flunking an exam. “I’ll just have to keep my head up and hope for the best.”

Laurence Borel, a 36-year-old digital marketing consultant from France, isn’t waiting to find out what’s coming next. She asked for her British passport in May after more than 15 years living in the country.

“I’ll bet a lot of people are applying,” she said, explaining that she’d been mulling the idea of a passport for years but the referendum prompted her to act.

“I don’t want to go back to France,” she said. “My life is here.”

At workplaces and schools across the country, managers have sent out emails to worried foreign staffers and students, assuring them that — for now — nothing has changed.

“The formal process for leaving the European Union will take at least two years,” Oxford University said in one such statement. “Our staff and students can be assured that in the short term, we anticipate no disruption to employment or study.”

Over the long term though, the lives of the estimated 3 million EU citizens living in Britain may change in ways big and small. A survey commissioned by the Financial Times found that if Britain’s current immigration rules were applied to EU nationals, the overwhelming majority would lose their jobs and be forced to leave the country — catastrophic news for Spanish barristas, Romanian strawberry pickers, German investment bankers and the industries that rely on them.

The biggest impact may be on the Poles, the largest group of foreign EU workers in the U.K. An estimated 850,000 people from Poland are now in the U.K., seeking wages and opportunities far beyond what they could ever expect in their ex-communist homeland, a flow so dramatic that Polish is now England’s second-most-spoken language.

The fate of the Poles in Britain is such an important domestic issue in Poland that President Andrzej Duda vowed after the British referendum that Polish leaders will “do everything to keep the rights unchanged” in upcoming negotiations with British leaders.

“I trust that the British government will appreciate the contribution the Poles are bringing into the development of the British Islands, into their social and cultural life,” Duda said.

Under British law, EU immigrants who have resided in the U.K. for more than five years can apply for permanent residency. In practice, however, few EU citizens have bothered as their passports already allow them to travel freely and easily access education, health care, pensions and other services in Britain.

The Polish Institute of International Affairs, a Warsaw-based think tank, has estimated that still leaves up to 400,000 Poles who arrived in Britain after 2012. Though the path forward is still unclear, it’s possible that they — along with hundreds of thousands more from elsewhere in Europe — may have to apply for work visas and, if rejected, have to leave the country.

Aware of the EU workers’ anxiety, London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who had backed the failed “remain” side, issued a special message Friday to the nearly one million European citizens living in London alone.

“As a city, we are grateful for the enormous contribution you make, and that will not change as a result of this referendum,” he said. “You are very welcome here.”

To be sure, not all European workers in Britain are panicking or fearful.

“I feel good. Leaving the EU is a good idea,” said Gabriel Ionut, a 24-year-old from Bucharest, Romania, who works as a traffic marshal at a construction site in London. He has worked in the U.K. for four years and, with a residency permit, is confident about his chances of staying.

He says he fully understands native British concerns that their island has been forced to absorb too many immigrants in recent years, with too little control over who can come in due to the EU rules ensuring the free movement of people and labor.

“Now they will have more control over allowing in only the really good people,” he said. “And they will also be able stop more refugees from the Middle East. I am afraid there could be terrorists with them.”

Another Romanian construction worker said he was mostly confused. Iosif Achim, a 32-year-old from Satu Mare, Romania, has been in Britain for six years but never bothered to apply for a residency permit.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen now,” said Achim. “But in my opinion this is going to be bad.”

The concern was mirrored across the Channel by the estimated 1.2 million U.K. citizens living in Europe.

The referendum “shouldn’t affect me too much. But it could,” said Herman Martin, a British composer who has lived in Brussels for the past 24 years. Overall, he said, the British vote to leave the EU would be a disaster for both parties.

“I find it quite disturbing,” he said.

Everyone with foreign ties appears shaken.

“We’re all in shock and deeply saddened,” said Christine Ullmann, a German who works in digital marketing in London, including on the “Hug a Brit” campaign that pleaded with the British to remain in the EU. Ullmann said she cried on the train Friday morning.

Borel, the French consultant, agreed that emotions were still raw.

“I love London. I love the English. I’m heartbroken,” she said.

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Asian shares mostly up as investors await more Brexit polls

MANILA, Philippines— Asian shares were mostly higher Wednesday, with investors focused on Thursday’s vote on Britain’s possible withdrawal from the European Union and after relief over U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s statement that the Fed would remain cautious in raising interest rates.

KEEPING SCORE: Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 1 percent to 16,002.60 while China’s Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.4 percent to 2,891.03. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 0.3 percent to 20,730.25. Australia’s S&P ASX 200 edged up 0.1 percent at to 5,281.60. South Korea’s KOSPI was up 0.4 percent at 1,990.07. Southeast Asian markets were mostly up.

ANALYST VIEWPOINT: “We still have three polls on UK referendum before the vote, and another shift back to ‘Brexit’ will see risk appetite disappear in a jiffy,” said Bernard Aw, IG market strategist, as the polls showed “remain” with a slight lead over “leave” sentiment. “Despite a positive performance in the overnight markets, Asia will continue to trade cautiously.”

WALL STREET: U.S. stocks rose Tuesday as investors were relieved to hear Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen say the Fed would remain cautious in raising interest rates. Stocks hardly budged for most of the day as investors were occupied by Yellen’s Congressional appearance and the looming vote on Britain’s possible withdrawal from the European Union. For the second day in a row, stocks traded higher and bond prices fell as investors felt a bit surer that Britain will stay in the EU. The Dow Jones industrial average picked up 24.86 points, or 0.1 percent, to 17,829.73. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 5.65 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,088.90. The Nasdaq composite added 6.55 points, or 0.1 percent, to 4,843.76.

OIL: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 19 cents to $50.04 a barrel in New York. On Tuesday, it fell 52 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $48.85 a barrel. Brent crude, the benchmark for international oil prices, was also up 15 cents to $50.77 a barrel in London. On Tuesday, it slipped 3 cents to $50.62 a barrel.

CURRENCIES: The dollar fell to 104.45 yen from 104.76 yen the previous day. The euro rose to $1.1271 from $1.1251 on Tuesday.

source: business.inquirer.net