The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says that the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union has “thrown a spanner in the works” of its global economic growth forecast.
The IMF’s 2017 growth forecast for the U.K. has been slashed to 1.3 percent from 2.2 percent and this year’s has been cut to 1.7 percent from 1.9 percent.
The IMF’s global growth forecast for 2017 has also been revised down, to 3.4 percent from 3.5 percent.
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The United Kingdom’s new prime minister, Theresa May, pushed for U.K. unity in Edinburgh on July 15 on her first visit as Britain’s premier. While 51 percent of voters in the U.K. as a whole backed its exit from the European Union, 62 percent of Scots voting favored remaining.
The vote triggered calls among Scottish nationalists for another referendum on whether Scotland should leave the U.K.
“I want to get the best possible deal for the whole of the United Kingdom out of our negotiations for the U.K. leaving the E.U.,” the new premier said.
Questioned about another plebiscite on Scotland leaving the U.K., two years after Scots voted to remain part of the kingdom, the Conservative leader said: “As far as I’m concerned, the Scottish people had their vote.”
But she also signaled some flexibility on Scotland’s demands to be allowed to chart a somewhat different course than the rest of the U.K. in dealing with Europe.”I want the Scottish government to be fully engaged in our discussions and our considerations, and I will listen to any options that they bring forward.”
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In this video, Bloomberg columnist Clive Crook presents some ideas on how the European Community can discourage other nations from following the United Kingdom’s exit.
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(June 6th, 2016) Suggesting growing anxiety about the United Kingdom’s possible exit from the European Union, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned Britain that nations “at the bargaining table” negotiate better deals than those “outside the room”.
Mrs. Merkel emphasized that it was up to the British people, but she hoped that Britain would vote to stay in the E.U. in the referendum on June 23.
She said that Britain was “part and parcel” of the E.U. and was of “benefit to all of us”.
“Brexit’’ campaigners said staying in the E.U. might be in Germany’s interest but that “does not mean it’s in the U.K.’s interest”.
German sources were saying privately just a few weeks ago that Mrs. Merkel wasn’t planning to say anything about the referendum.
