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Brexit day: end of an era as United Kingdom leaves EU – live updates
Brexit day: end of an era as United Kingdom leaves EU – live updates
(30 minutes later)
All the fallout as Britain departs from the European Union after 47 years
All the fallout as Britain departs from the European Union after 47 years
Here’s some of Westminster’s reaction to the confirmation that the UK has left the EU:
The EU’s foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, has said:
There were huge cheers in Parliament Square as a simulated Big Ben chimed 11pm GMT to mark the UK’s official exit from the EU.
Nigel Farage spoke to a roaring crowd of thousands of Brexit supporters as he hailed the “point of no return” and the victory of “the people beating the establishment”.
After Farage led the countdown, the crowd joined in a rendition of the national anthem, many waving Union flags.
The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has said:
While Downing Street has been counting down to Brexit this evening, the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has been focusing on protecting the city’s reputation for openness:
How does a nation say goodbye to its neighbours? With a lump in its throat and a poignant song of farewell – or with cheers and a raised middle finger of defiant good riddance? The answer that Britain gave at 11pm on Friday 31 January 2020 was: both. The UK broke from the European Union on a late winter’s night with both jubilation and regret, as divided on the day of leaving as it had been in deciding to leave. For some Britons, this was Independence Day. For others, it was a national bereavement.
As the UK takes the unprecedented step of leaving the EU, prominent voices from each remaining member state say goodbye:
As the UK takes the unprecedented step of leaving the EU, prominent voices from each remaining member state say goodbye:
The United Kingdom has left the European Union.
The United Kingdom has left the European Union.
As the clock struck 11pm GMT, the nation officially enacted the biggest constitutional change in living memory and, in doing so, became the first member state ever to leave the EU.
As the clock struck 11pm GMT, the nation officially enacted the biggest constitutional change in living memory and, in doing so, became the first member state ever to leave the EU.
The momentous shift follows more than three years of political wrangling that has seen off two prime ministers and brought about radical change within the two main political parties.
The momentous shift follows more than three years of political wrangling that has seen off two prime ministers and brought about radical change within the two main political parties.
The UK now enters a transition period that is due to run until the end of the year and during which the government is charged with the task of redrawing the country’s relationship with its closest neighbours.
The UK now enters a transition period that is due to run until the end of the year and during which the government is charged with the task of redrawing the country’s relationship with its closest neighbours.
Nigel Farage has taken to the stage at the Brexit celebration rally in central London. The Brexit party leader has said:
Nigel Farage has taken to the stage at the Brexit celebration rally in central London. The Brexit party leader has said:
A crowd of pro-Brexit supporters have gathered at the gates of Stormont, the seat of Northern Ireland’s devolved government, in east Belfast to count down to 11pm GMT when the UK officially leaves the EU.
A crowd of pro-Brexit supporters have gathered at the gates of Stormont, the seat of Northern Ireland’s devolved government, in east Belfast to count down to 11pm GMT when the UK officially leaves the EU.
Many are holding Union flags and are ready to toast the moment Brexit becomes official.
Many are holding Union flags and are ready to toast the moment Brexit becomes official.
A Lambeg drum was played and Chinese lanterns were set to be released at 11pm. The DUP’s Jim Wells is among the crowd. The gathering, described as a thanksgiving, started with a prayer.
A Lambeg drum was played and Chinese lanterns were set to be released at 11pm. The DUP’s Jim Wells is among the crowd. The gathering, described as a thanksgiving, started with a prayer.
Boris Johnson has praised Steve Barclay for his work as Brexit secretary, a role that ceases once the UK leaves the EU.
Boris Johnson has praised Steve Barclay for his work as Brexit secretary, a role that ceases once the UK leaves the EU.
The government has already confirmed that the Department for Exiting the European Union will no longer exist. The prime minister said of Barclay:
The government has already confirmed that the Department for Exiting the European Union will no longer exist. The prime minister said of Barclay:
The founder of the Labour Leave group, John Mills, spoke to the Parliament Square audience about his experience in politics and said:
Mills said he had reasons to be sceptical of the EU in the nineties and believes those fears were valid. He added:
A small group of people on push bikes, who were believed to be anti-Brexit protesters, was stopped by police from entering Parliament Square. They had attempted to ride through to the rally, but Metropolitan Police officers formed a line to stop them from passing.
A police officer at the scene said the group quickly dispersed but officers were then called to the other side of the square as the same group tried again to enter the rally. About 30 officers, supported by police on horseback, have now blocked off another street to prevent the group from moving closer.
A clock counting down the final hour before the UK officially leaves the EU is being projected on to the front of No 10 Downing Street, which is bathed in red, white and blue light.
A short walk away, on Parliament Square, a crowd is being addressed by pro-Brexit speakers. Among them is Richard Tice, of the Brexit party. He started off by describing Britain as a “confident” country that has finally achieved democracy before introducing his party colleague, Ann Widdecombe.
“We did it,” she shouted to the crowd. “And if we hadn’t done it Britain would not be embarking on a future as a free country,” she added. But Widdicombe warned there was “much still to do”. She said:
She said there are people who want to “live in a free country and see nothing wrong with patriotism”. Widdecombe added that she believed Britain’s departure from the EU was all down to Nigel Farage’s constant campaigning.
We don’t need anybody to prop us up or to tell us what to do and of course we want to cooperate and have good relations, but there is a difference between a sovereign state and a superstate and we will never be part of their superstate.
The former Tory MP then urged the crowd to “rejoice in the day the Brexit party has made”. Tice then introduced Tim Martin, the pro-Brexit businessman behind pub chain Wetherspoons, as the next speaker. Speaking about EU citizens, Martin said:
Downing Street has posted Johnson’s address to the nation online:
Boris Johnson has proclaimed Brexit as the revival of the UK’s “power of independent thought and action” on Friday – but faced an immediate warning from EU leaders that “strength does not lie in splendid isolation”, Heather Stewart, Daniel Boffey and Rajeev Syal write.
As a clock was projected on to Downing Street to count down to the moment when the UK’s 47-year membership of the EU officially came to an end, the prime minister released a video message, saying it would usher in “real national renewal and change”.
Johnson insisted Brexit would mark a moment of “national renewal,” after which the UK could become simultaneously, “a great European power, and truly global in our range and ambitions.”
Brexit celebrations have kicked off in central London, as hundreds waving Union flags gathered to mark the historic occasion.
The crowd was shown a brief history of Britain’s membership of the EU leading up to Brexit on a large screen above Parliament Square. There were boos from the crowd as Tony Blair and the BBC logo appeared on the screen, followed by cheers for Margaret Thatcher.
The US-UK special relationship will “grow even stronger” thanks to Brexit, Washington’s ambassador to London has claimed. Woody Johnson welcomed the formal exit from the EU as being “long supported” by the US president, Donald Trump.
The diplomat said the severing of the 47-year tie with the bloc will allow a transatlantic trade deal to be forged to “increase prosperity”.
In the Yorkshire town of Morley, 350 people are crammed into the rugby club to celebrate the UK’s departure from the EU by chomping on Brexit Banger Sarnies (£4) and listening to a mutton-chopped guitarist in a flag-covered shirt sing songs including “EU give love a bad name” and “I want to break free”.
The party was organised by the local MP, Andrea Jenkyns, who provided the big shock of 2015’s general election by ousting Ed Balls from the constituency. Jenkyns is married to fellow Tory MP, Jack Lopresti. Their son, Clifford, was born on 29 March 2017, coming into the world the day Theresa May officially triggered Article 50. (Jenkyns’ website records her “thrill” at the coincidence).
Jenkyns, a classically trained singer, planned to herald the new era of UK independence by singing Jerusalem on the rugby pitch wearing a Union Jack-patterned fascinator shortly before 11pm. She said she organised the party in her constituency “because everything happens in London and not everyone can afford to travel down to London.” As she chatted, her Conservative colleague Lucy Harris, a former Brexit Party MEP who defected in December, appeared on a screen via videolink. Her name had been on the invitation but it seemed she had chosen to mark the moment in the capital. She was “sad” not to be able to make it to Yorkshire, she said.
Morley is “Brexit heartlands”, said Jenkyns.
Many revellers had dressed up for the occasion. Karl Arthur, a railway signal man and local councillor from Selby, was wearing a red baseball cap which read: “Make Britain Great Again”. He said he was looking forward to the UK controlling its own immigration after Brexit. “I like the idea of Boris’s points-based system,” he said. “I think it’s wrong to have a free-for-all. People come in for the benefits rather than to work.”
Wearing sequined black trousers and a top hat, singer and dog groomer Caroline Silvers said she was playing for free in order to mark the historic moment.
Jenkyns insisted she had only received a few complaints about the party from disgruntled Remainers. But in the Derbyshire town of Whaley Bridge, which voted to Leave the EU by a margin of just 50.55%, the White Hart pub cancelled plans for its Brexit bash after a stream of Europhile locals threatened to boycott the bar.
The landlord changed the party name to a “British music night”, promising patriotic playlist all night, “from the Rolling Stones to Coldplay”, but with no mention of the B-word. Explaining the change, the landlord said:
Here are some more thoughts from Guardian readers on Brexit. Katherine, a 79-year-old retired curator, says:
Sheila Keane, a 63-year-old non-practising registered nurse and solicitor from Southampton, says:
Janet is a teacher who has lived in Germany since the 1960s. She says:
Brendan Boyle, a US Democrat congressman, who travelled to the Irish border with Nancy Pelosi last April warning of consequences to the UK if a customs and checks were reinstated between Northern Ireland and Ireland has tweeted to thank those who made this did not happen.
Boyle’s father emigrated to the US at 19.
Pro-Europe campaigners have gathered outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh tonight. Guardian reader Sam Page, who is part of the European Movement in Scotland organisation that put together the event, says they are protesting “against being dragged out of the EU against our will”:
