WSJ spells it out in its leader headline: Britain Declares Independence
If you were looking for a positive headline on Britain’s planned Brexit from Europe, there it was in the Wall Street Journal, atop the leader column: Britain Declares Independence.
John Kerry with Philip Hammond
The American heavyweight admitted it had argued earlier in the week that Britain should stay in the union, while acknowledging it was a close call.
But said the WSJ, “With Thursday’s vote to leave the European Union, Britain has given its Continental peers a powerful example of the meaning of popular rule.
“Now we’ll see if the British have the wisdom to make the best use of their historic choice.”
The New York Times under the label “The Security Consequences of Brexit” was much more downbeat: “‘Apart from creating economic turmoil, Britain’s calamitous vote to leave the European Union could have no less profound foreign policy consequences, weakening the interlocking web of Western institutions and alliances that have helped guarantee international peace and stability for 70 years.”
Constanze Stelzenmüller , Robert Bosch senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, wrote in the Washington Post, “For me as a German, the Brexit vote is the second great seismic shift of my lifetime. The first was the miraculous gift of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, which led to a quarter-century of expanded freedom, prosperity, democracy and security in Europe.
“The question before us now is: Does Brexit mark the beginning of the end for this era of peace? Or can the European project be salvaged?”
One major element missing from yesterday’s talkfest was a heavy weight from the Leave side. But we had the news that John Kerry, US Secretary of State was flying into the UK. And we had Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s First minister contemplating ways of setting aside the referendum verdict as it so arbitrarily tossed aside Scotland’s overwhelming vote to remain. There’s a lot more talking to be done.
Kerry will become the first senior American official to visit London since the EU referendum on Monday.
The Secretary of State will meet Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond to discuss the fallout from Thursday's vote to leave the union.
It comes after he urged Britain and the European Union to manage their "divorce" responsibly for the sake of global markets and citizens.
After leaving Rome on Monday, Mr Kerry will fly to Brussels to meet EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini before travelling to London.
He is expected to echo last week's immediate US response, which focused on the unchanged nature of the allies' "special relationship".