Political earthquakes come in different forms, and the result of the recent British referendum which resulted in a vote to leave the EU is “a powerful political earthquake”. The most pessimistic members of the British government did not expect this outcome.

As soon as the result was announced, the fallout from it began; financial markets collapsed and lost their value, the pound was exposed to the same damage and its value against the dollar fell sharply. Talk about the consequences and repercussions of the shocking decision to exit the EU also began.

This shocking news, which is the product of the development of and the increasing presence of right-wing extremist thought in political life in the European continent, comes as a violent backlash against the continent’s deteriorating economic conditions and its drop in population growth rates. It is also a backlash against the terrible and disturbing increase in the number of immigrants arriving from all around the world which is considered an explicit threat to the continent as it may compromise the social stability of nations and expose the continent to terrorism and crimes committed by those coming to it.

Britain surprised the world with its decision to withdraw from the European Union, and it seems that by making this decision it has opened the black box of partition; it has whetted the appetites of far-right parties in other countries to declare the same desire. In addition to this, Scotland has now announced that it would like a referendum on whether to secede from the United Kingdom.

After the shock result of the referendum, more than one million Britons signed a petition demanding a second referendum as if they were awoken by the horror of the consequences of the result and began to realise the seriousness and the magnitude of what they voted for.

However, what is more dangerous and important is that the extreme right was and still is touting the idea that Britain has gained its “independence” and “freedom” from the European Union. This is a very extreme and racist perception and confirms that hatred is rising tremendously and severely.

Britain will become poorer as a result of its decision to leave the European market, and its economic standing will be affected. London will no longer be the financial centre of Europe and the banking giants located in the capital will seriously consider relocating to Frankfurt, Paris and Luxembourg. British companies will not be able to compete with others as much, and thus opportunities for growth will be less than what the country is accustomed to.

Brexit is a shocking decision and a violent political earthquake. I consider the consequences more dangerous than the result of the referendum itself because the coming European spring in the form of referendums, without the blood, has begun.