Singapore will make the best of the new reality: PM Lee on Brexit

A teller counts ballot papers at the Titanic Exhibition Centre in Belfast, Northern Ireland. (Liam McBurney/PA via AP)

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Friday (24 June) that Singapore will continue to cultivate ties with the United Kingdom and “make the best of the new reality” after the British people voted to leave the European Union.

Lee, in a post on his Facebook page, also wished UK prime minister David Cameron well, after the latter announced his intention to step down hours following the Brexit vote.

His comments came after the Leave EU campaign prevailed in the referendum with a margin of 51.9 per cent to 48.1 per cent. Global financial markets tumbled while the pound nosedived to a 31-year low on Friday in the wake of the referendum’s outcome.

Cameron announced that he would resign as prime minister and that there should be a new leader by October, when the Conservative Party holds its annual conference.

Calling the vote a “turning point”, Lee said it reflected “the anxiety of the British population over immigration, their resentment at having to negotiate with and accommodate European partners, and their desire to assert British identity and sovereignty”.

Lee also said the next few years will be “uncertain ones” for both the UK and the EU.

Cautioning that “nobody can foresee all the consequences of” Brexit, Lee said that Singapore would need to watch the “developments carefully”.

“The British voters have decided. We wish Britain well. I wish David Cameron well too, who has been a good friend of Singapore and has announced his intention to resign as PM,” Lee said.

“Singapore will continue to cultivate our ties with Britain, which is a long standing friend and partner,” Lee added.

“We hope in time the uncertainty will diminish, and we will make the best of the new reality.”