By: Darby VanHoutan

The United Kingdom held a referendum on Thursday (referendum: a general vote by the people on a single political question that has been given to them for direct decision) to decide whether Britain would stay in or leave the EU (European Union). The “leave” campaign won with 52 percent to the “stay” campaigns 48 percent. Basically, a total of 17.4 million people cast their vote to leave EU and 16.1 million people wanted to stay.

Why did this happen?

The main reason behind the “leave” campaign was the fear of British people being overrun by immigrants. The “leave” campaign promised things such as restrictions on immigration, more money for the independent Britain, better handling of world crisis, and more issues within the country. Other motivation came from lack of trust in the Prime Minister, Britain’s relationship with the UK, and big names that supported the “leave” campaign like Boris Johnson (the projected person to replace Cameron). Another factor in this decision may have been the variety, or lack thereof, of people who turned out to vote on Thursday. There was a 25 percent turnout of people aged 18-25 and a 61 percent turnout of people 65 and up. Ironically, this decision made by a majority of older citizens, will be the issue for the newer generations instead to handle.

What is happening because of it?

While the votes piled in, the euro’s worth dropped to its lowest level since the 1980’s. In the hours since the polls closed, Britain has lost a total of 350 billion euro (this converts to about $389,304,995,370.39). Along with this comes the news of Prime Minister David Cameron resigning by October of this year. Cameron served as a leader in the “stay” campaign. According to his speech given Friday morning, he feels he would not be the right person to lead the people of Britain to where they’re going next.

What does this mean going forward?

Technically the vote is not a legally-binding contract. However, it is unlikely that the now-independent Britain will ignore its voters. Things like travel to and from EU will become more difficult. These major changes and decisions will happen slowly over the next two years while the remaining 27 members of EU and independent Britain work out issues like trade, travel, and more.

Until then, people around the world are voicing their opinions on social media. They use the hashtag #Brexit which is trending worldwide. Although this decision was made across the ocean it affects the entire world.