from Bill Still
lass=”” >Despite positive exit polling results sent to us an hour before the polls closed in Britain, according to the Daily Mail, UKIP leader Nigel Farage conceded defeat within seconds of the polls closing in Britain’s crucial Brexit vote.
Farage said he believed that the Remain side would edge the contest.
“It’s been an extraordinary referendum campaign, turnout looks to be exceptionally high and looks like Remain will edge it. Ukip and I are going nowhere and the party will only continue to grow stronger in the future.”
Two late polls were released today. The YouGov poll showed Remain with 52% and Leave with 48%. The Ipsos-Mori poll showed Remain with 54% and Leave with 46%.
However, not all Leave folks agree with Farage. At this hour – midnight, London time – Senior Leave campaigner Ian Duncan Smith – the former work and pensions secretary – told the BBC says:
“I never quite follow what Nigel Farage says. I genuinely do not have a sense of how this has gone.”
Brendan Chilton, general secretary of Labour Leave, said:
“Nigel may have said that but until the votes are counted we don’t really know what’s happened.
“It’s a bit concerning if that is the case. I obviously hope we have won.”
Mr. Chilton said his gut feeling at 10pm was that Leave would squeak out a win. He added:
“Even if we don’t win, if it’s close, that is a magnificent achievement.”
This is a breaking update at 01:00 hours London time, 20:00 hours Eastern. The first substantial results have just come in from Sunderland. Leave was expected to win by a 53.4% margin – it won by a 61.3% margin.
As a result, according to the Wall Street Journal, the British Pound is in free fall – down nearly 3 % in minutes as the Tories have a sudden fear attack that Brexit may yet pass.
I’m Still reporting from Washington. Good day