LONDON — Britain’s shocking decision to remove itself from the European Union brought more political turmoil Sunday as Scotland’s leader threatened to block the move and the Labour Party’s leader veered dangerously close to losing his post.
The sense of unease spread as European leaders stepped up the pressure on Britain to begin its complex extrication from the 28-nation EU immediately, rather than wait several months as British Prime Minister David Cameron prefers.
With London’s jittery stock market set to reopen Monday, the leaders of the successful campaign to leave the EU stayed largely out of the public eye, offering few signals about their plans.
If they were silent, Scotland was not. Popular First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she would “consider” advising the Scottish Parliament to try to use its power to prevent Britain from actually leaving the EU. She said Scottish lawmakers might be able to derail the move by withholding “legislative consent” for a British exit, or Brexit.
Sturgeon said she believes Scotland’s approval is required for the move but conceded the British government would likely take “a very different view.”
Thursday’s U.K.-wide vote to leave the EU was very unpopular in Scotland, where 62 percent cast ballots to stay, and Sturgeon says she is studying ways to keep Scotland part of the EU bloc.
The Scottish question looms large because Sturgeon also has said another referendum on Scottish independence from Britain is “highly likely” as a result of Britain’s EU vote. A Scottish referendum in 2014 ended with voters deciding to remain in Britain.
In Northern Ireland, which also is part of the U.K., Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said his priority is forging “special arrangements” to enable Northern Ireland to maintain its EU ties. Some Brexit opponents have also talked of trying to use Northern Ireland’s Assembly to try to block Britain’s departure.
Northern Ireland voters also expressed a preference for keeping Britain in the EU. The unhappiness with the results in both Scotland and Northern Ireland is adding to the sense that the Brexit vote may over time lead to the breakup of the United Kingdom.
The vote is already cutting short Cameron’s career. He said after the results that he will resign as prime minister when the Conservative Party chooses a new leader, who will be charged with implementing the separation from the EU.
The new party leader, who will become prime minister, is expected to be in place by October. At that point, he or she may choose to call a quick election to solidify a mandate — and the prospect of an election in the near future may have spurred a revolt Sunday against Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn that has been simmering for months.
Corbyn, criticized by many for doing a weak job presenting the party’s position favoring EU membership, for the first time faces an open rebellion from senior members of his “shadow cabinet” — senior figures who advise the party leader on various policy issues.
At least eight members resigned Sunday after Corbyn fired shadow Foreign Secretary Hilary Benn overnight for reportedly plotting a rebellion against him. The dissidents want Corbyn, who represents the far-left wing of the party, ousted before the next general election because many believe he cannot win.
In her resignation letter, shadow Heath Secretary Heidi Alexander bluntly told Corbyn he had to go.
“I do not believe you have the capacity to shape the answers our country is demanding and I believe that if we are to form the next government, a change of leadership is essential,” she wrote.
Corbyn did not respond publicly to the coordinated assault on his leadership, but senior allies said he still has strong support among the party’s rank-and-file members and will not step down.
Concerns about last week’s EU referendum ranged far beyond U.K. politics.
In Rome, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged Britain and the EU to manage their divorce responsibly for the sake of global markets and citizens. On Monday, he will be the first senior U.S. official to visit London and Brussels since the referendum, and he said he would bring a message of U.S. support to both capitals.
Anguish over the vote affected many of the 1.2 million British expatriates living in Europe.
Tad Dawson, a 51-year-old pub owner who has lived in Spain since the 1990s, says his future is suddenly very uncertain.
“We’re very scared because I’ve been here 23 years. I’ve got my house. My kids were born here, they went to a British-Spanish school. I’ve got a bar. I’ve got a lot to lose,” Dawson said at his pub in Benidorm, on the Mediterranean coast.
“We don’t know how we’re going to be now,” he said. “We might have no pension. We might have no medical. We may have to sell our properties.”
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Associated Press writer Diego Torres in Benidorm, Spain, contributed.