LONDON – The Latest on Britain’s vote to leave the 28-nation European Union (all times local):
2:55 p.m.
Pope Francis is lamenting what he calls “invisible walls” of fear that he says are dividing the European continent.
Francis is blaming these walls of “fear and aggression” on a “failure to understand people of different backgrounds or faith.” He calls them “walls of political and economic selfishness.”
The pope made no direct reference to Britain’s recent vote to leave the European Union as he delivered his observations in a video message Saturday to a meeting of Christian movements in Munich, Germany.
___
1:25 p.m.
France’s prime minister says Britain’s vote to leave the European Union is a business opportunity for Paris.
Prime Minister Manuel Valls says the government is working on enhancing the French capital’s attractiveness, especially measures regarding taxes and expatriates’ status. He spoke to the Le Parisien newspaper in an interview published Saturday.
Valls tells international companies: “Welcome in Paris! Come and invest in France!”
Due to the British vote to leave the EU, some businesses based in London are considering leaving for other cities like Dublin, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Paris to benefit from the large EU common market.
___
1 p.m.
Thousands of European Union supporters are singing, dancing and marching through the streets of London to protest the United Kingdom’s vote to leave the EU.
Saturday’s 2-mile (3-kilometre) “March for Europe” from Hyde Park to Parliament was organized on social media. Many of the marchers say they hope U.K. lawmakers will block any moves to leave the 28-nation bloc. Some 48 per cent of voters in the June 23 referendum wanted to remain in the EU.
One organizer, comedian Mark Thomas, says British lawmakers should not work for an exit based on a result driven by anti-EU campaigners’ exaggerations and distortions about immigration and EU spending.
Thomas said: “We would accept the result of the referendum if it was fought on a level playing field. But it was full of misinformation.”
