West Berkshire votes to stay in EU as
Reaction after Britain decides to leave European Union
WEST Berkshire has voted to remain in the EU, but Britain has voted out.
It was a slim margin, with just 52 per cent of West Berkshire voters saying they want Britain to stay.
South Oxfordshire, West Oxfordshire, Reading, Wokingham, Windsor and Maidenhead all voted to stay, but Swindon and Bracknell Forest voted Leave.
Newbury MP Richard Benyon said: "I'm very pleased that West Berkshire voted remain, but Britain as a whole will now have to come to terms with the fact that it has voted to leave.
"This is a great country, and it will continue to be a great country but there is no denying this is going to cause enormous economic uncertainty.
"I very much hope we can avoid a recession but the impact this will have is huge. We just have to try and get the best out of this situation."
Berkshire as a whole was one of the few English counties to vote to Remain in the EU with 51 per cent of voters in favour, while 48 per cent wanted to leave. The county saw 369,158 voters take to the polls.
The south east region registered an Out vote overall with a majority of 52 per cent.
The West Berkshire result was declared at 4.20am with 48,300 voting to remain and 44,977 wanting to leave. There were 68 spoilt ballot papers.
Reacting to the count, remain campaigner Jonny Roberts said: "We are very pleased that we won here.
"We would have liked to have got a larger majority to help these national figures."
He added: "We are about to leave the European Union which is clearly saddening."
Liberal Democrat Judith Bunting said: "I am very happy that we won in West Berkshire and I think it shows a strong campaign that the Stronger In team ran and Richard Benyon has run a good campaign."
She went on to say of the national picture on Twitter: "The likely #EURefResults angers me. Recession, unemployment and a tanking ££ beckon. Where now your child's future?"
Vote leave constituency co-ordinator David Bailey said:"We put a lot of effort into the leave campaign.
"I think the national picture does reflect this great chasm and differences between people. That's going to be difficult to bring these two groups back together."
West Berkshire Council leader Roger Croft said: "In the run up to the referendum West Berkshire Council did not take a position either to remain or to leave the European Union.
"The council has very little involvement directly with the European Union although we recognise that it influences our lives and businesses in many ways.
"What has been, and still is, important to us is that we have stability in our financial sector and we hope that this continues as the country reacts to this decision.
"A stable financial system will allow us to plan for the future with confidence and help us in providing important services for our local community."
Leader of West Berkshire Council Roger Croft said: “In the run up to the referendum West Berkshire Council did not take a position either to remain or to leave the European Union.
"The Council has very little involvement directly with the European Union although we recognise that it influences our lives and businesses in many ways.
"What has been, and still is, important to us is that we have stability in our financial system and we hope that this continues as the country reacts to this decision.
"A stable financial system will allow us to plan for the future with confidence and help us in providing important services for our local community.”
According to YouGov
