The UK yesterday began an uncertain future outside the EU after the country greeted the historic end to almost a half-century of EU membership with a mixture of joy and sadness.
There were celebrations and tears on Friday as the EU’s often-reluctant member became the first to leave an organization set up to forge unity among nations after the horrors of World War II.
Little had changed as of yesterday, as the UK is now in an 11-month transition period negotiated as part of the divorce.
Photo: AP
Britons are able to work in the EU and trade freely — and vice versa — until Dec. 31, although the UK would no longer be represented in the bloc’s institutions.
Thousands of people waving Union Flags packed London’s Parliament Square and sang the national anthem to mark that reality as Brexit became law at 11pm, midnight in Brussels.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson held a private party in his Downing Street office with a clock projected on the walls outside counting down the minutes to departure.
In an address to the nation, he hailed a “new era of friendly cooperation” acknowledging that there could be “bumps in the road ahead,” but predicting the country could make it a “stunning success.”
“The most important thing to say tonight is that this is not an end, but a beginning,” he said.
At a “Big Brexit Bash” in the market town of Morley, northern England, Raymond Stott said he was “glad it’s all over” after years of political gridlock and acrimony.
“We will look after ourselves. We don’t need Europe,” the 66-year-old said.
However, Brexit has exposed deep divisions in British society and many fear the consequences of ending 47 years of ties with their nearest neighbors.
Some pro-Europeans, including many of the 3.6 million EU citizens who have made their lives in the UK, marked the occasion with candlelit gatherings.
Brexit has also provoked soul-searching in the EU about its future after losing a country of 66 million people with global diplomatic clout and the financial center of the City of London.
French President Emmanuel Macron described it as a “historic warning sign” that should force the EU and its remaining nations of more than 440 million people to stop and reflect.
The UK’s diplomatic mission in Brussels sent an employee out early yesterday to change the building’s nameplate to read “UK Mission to the European Union,” signaling its new non-member status.
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