"Britain is leaving the European Union but we must not turn our back on Europe or the rest of the world," he said, adding: "We have to determine the kind of relationship we want with the EU". "It is going to be difficult... This is going to be far from plain sailing," he told MPs, while also trying to reassure following a plunge in the financial markets in the wake of the referendum. "We are well placed to face the challenges ahead," he said. Cameron also condemned anti-immigrant incidents after the vote, saying: "We have a fundamental responsibility to bring our country together."
"Let's remember these people have come and made a wonderful contribution to this country," he said, adding that there would be "no immediate change" in the status of EU citizens living in Britain. Finance minister George Osborne said the British economy was strong enough to cope with the volatility caused by Thursday's referendum, the biggest blow since World War Two to the European goal of forging greater unity. But his words failed to halt the fall of sterling, which later sank to its lowest level against the US currency for 31 years, continuing the slide that began last week when Britons confounded investors' expectations by voting to end 43 years of EU membership.
European bank shares had their worst two-day fall on record and world stocks, as measured by MSCI were on track for worst two-day fall since thre aftermath of the Lehman Bros collapse in late 2008. With the ruling Conservatives looking for a new leader after Prime Minister David Cameron's resignation on Friday and lawmakers from the opposition Labour party stepping up a rebellion against their leader, Britain sank deeper into political and economic chaos.
"There's no political leadership in the UK right when markets need the reassurance of direction," said Luke Hickmore of Aberdeen Asset Management, expressing the view of many in the City of London financial centre. Cameron has promised to stay on until October as a caretaker. A committee responsible for running the process of selecting a new leader for his Conservative Party recommended a faster process that should be completed by early September.
The prime minister sought to calm fears over the fallout of the referendum and said there should be no attempt in parliament, where a majority of members, like him, argued that Britain should stay in the EU, to block Britain's departure. "I am clear, and the cabinet agreed this morning, that the decision must be accepted," Cameron told parliament, which faces a public petition for a new referendum.
But his refusal to start formal moves immediately to pull the country out of the EU has prompted many European leaders to demand quicker action by Britain, the EU's second largest economy after Germany, to leave the 28-country bloc. "It should be implemented quickly. We cannot remain in an uncertain and indefinite situation," French finance minister Michel Sapin said on France 2 television.
Guenther Oettinger, a German member of the EU's executive European Commission, said Cameron and his party should not risk causing damage at home and abroad by waiting until October. "Every day of uncertainty prevents investors from putting their funds into Britain, and also other European markets," he told Deutschlandfunk radio. While European countries would like to end the uncertainty with swift negotiations, they cannot begin until Britain formally notifies the EU it is planning to exit.
Since Cameron decided to leave that task to his successor, escalating turmoil in both major political parties has created even more uncertainty over Britain's plans for the future and the transition to a new leader. German Chancellor Angela Merkel she had "neither a brake nor an accelerator" to control events. She has appeared to take a softer line than some European leaders. But she ruled out informal talks before London notifies the EU of its intention to leave under the EU's Lisbon Treaty, which provides its constitutional basis.
Making clear the exit negotiations would not be easy, Volker Kauder, who leads Merkel's conservatives in parliament, told ARD television: "There will be no special treatment, there will be no gifts." The shock waves are being felt across the globe at a time when economies are still fragile from the 2008 economic crisis, interest rates are close to zero and central banks have fewer tools than normal to revive demand if countries enter recession.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said uncertainties over the global economy had heightened and called for a "united, stable EU, and a stable, prosperous Britain". Financial markets misjudged the referendum, betting on the status quo despite abundant signs that the vote would be close. When reality dawned, the reaction was brutal. Sterling fell as much as 11 percent against the dollar on Friday for its worst day in modern history, while $2.8 trillion was wiped off the value of world stocks - the biggest daily loss ever.
That trumped even the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy during the 2008 financial crisis and the Black Monday stock market crash of 1987, according to Standard & Poor's Dow Jones Indices. By Monday afternoon, sterling had shed around 3.6 percent against the dollar to $1.3209 despite an attempt by Osborne to ease concerns by saying he was working closely with the Bank of England and officials in other leading economies. "Our economy is about as strong as it could be to confront the challenge our country now faces," he told reporters. "It is inevitable after Thursday's vote that Britain's economy is going to have to adjust to the new situation we find ourselves in."