EU referendum: UK's EU commissioner Lord Hill to resign

The UK's European Commissioner Lord Hill is to stand down, saying "what is done cannot be undone" after the UK voted to leave the European Union.

He said he did not believe it was right for him to carry on with his work as the commissioner in charge of financial services. But he will stay on for a period of weeks to ensure an "orderly handover".

Accompanied by his wife Samantha, Mr Cameron announced he would step down by the time of the Conservative conference in October

A close ally of Prime Minister David Cameron, Lord Hill had argued for the UK to remain in the EU.
He will be replaced by Latvian politician Valdis Dombrovskis, currently European Commissioner for the euro.

Lord Hill's first question-and-answer session lasted nearly three hours

Asked whether the UK would be sending anyone to Brussels to take Lord Hill's place on the Commission, Downing Street said: "It will be for the next prime minister to decide, following discussions with European partners, what role the UK plays in the European Commission, given we remain a full member of the EU until we have left."


Lord Hill's announcement comes as EU foreign ministers urged Britain to hold speedy talks on leaving the bloc, after it voted to end its membership on Thursday.
But German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was not in favour of pushing for a hasty withdrawal, adding there was "no need to be particularly nasty in any way" in the negotiations with Britain about its exit.

In another development, Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she would be seeking "immediate discussions" with Brussels to "protect Scotland's place in the EU" following the so-called Brexit vote.
Ms Sturgeon has said a new Scottish independence referendum is "highly likely".

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European Commissioners are among the most powerful officials in Brussels, with the ability to propose laws across a range of policy areas, but the UK will cease to have one when it leaves the EU.

'Actions have consequences'

Conservative peer Lord Hill told the BBC: "When something as huge as the decision in the British referendum takes place, actions have consequences. "It's not possible for me to carry on properly.

"You have to listen to the will of the British people. The right thing to do is to stand down and that's what today I am announcing." In a statement, he said he was "obviously very disappointed" about the result of the referendum, adding:

 "I wanted it to end differently and had hoped that Britain would want to play a role in arguing for an outward-looking, flexible, competitive, free trade Europe. But the British people took a different decision, and that is the way that democracy works."

He said he did not believe it was right for him to continue as commissioner "as though nothing had happened", but that there needed to be "an orderly handover" in the weeks ahead.

European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker said he had accepted Lord Hill's resignation "with great regret," hailing him as a "true European".

He said he had put the Conservative peer in charge of financial services "as a sign of my confidence in the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union" - but "to my great regret, this situation is now changing".