(VOVworld)- The favorites to succeed Prime Minister David Cameron pushed on Friday (Jul 1) for a delay in initiating Britain's talks to leave the EU as French President Francois Hollande insisted "Brexit" cannot be cancelled or delayed.

In further signs of economic fallout from last week's shock vote, the government also warned it would likely abandon a key promise to achieve a budget surplus by 2020, while no-frills airline EasyJet announced contingency plans to ensure its European operations after Brexit. Britain has been plunged into extraordinary political turmoil since Britons voted by 52 per cent in favour of leaving the European Union, with the ruling Conservatives and opposition Labour party in disarray and the country deeply polarised. As he outlined his bid for Cameron's job on Friday, top Brexit campaigner Michael Gove said he had "no expectation" that Article 50 - the formal procedure for leaving the EU - would be invoked this year. Gove's rival and the current favourite in the race, Theresa May, had said on Thursday that Article 50 "should not be invoked before the end of the year".