UK "shot itself in the foot" in Brexit vote: Bilimoria

Leading NRI entrepreneur Lord Karan Bilimoria today said the UK has "shot itself in the foot" by choosing to leave the European Union in the Brexit referendum.
Commenting on the "Aftermath of the EU Referendum result", the founder of the Cobra Beer said, "the uncertainties will continue for years to come with the protracted negotiations with the European Union (EU) leading to Article 50 (formal exit procedure) being invoked.
"This will all hamper inward investment, create uncertainty in business and hugely damage our economy, our businesses, our citizens, our stability and our standing in the world," Bilimoria, 54, said.
He said Britain may not have the Empire any more, "may not be a superpower, but is a global power."

"We've been at the top table of the world, with a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, and a member of the G7, G8, G20, NATO and the EU," Bilimoria said in a statement.
He said 23rd of June was not Independence Day for Britain, but was a day when the UK "shot itself in the foot."

"So this decision, this 52-48 per cent vote to leave, will not actually achieve the slogan of 'Vote Leave' - 'Let us take back control'. We've actually lost control and we're going to lose more control," Bilimoria said.
"It is a selfish, irresponsible and narrow-minded decision and in the words of the Nobellaureate Rabindranath Tagore in his famous poem, Where the Mind is Without Fear, 'Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic wars," he said.

"The truth is exactly the opposite of what Vote Leave have been saying about our loss of sovereignty and democracy, because we have kept our sovereignty and we have actually had the best of both worlds (before the Brexit vote)," Bilimoria said.
The UK voted to leave the European Union on Thursday after 43 years as 52 per cent of the Britons favoured leaving the 28-member EU, while 48 per cent supported staying in the bloc.