Brexit becomes reality: UK leaves European Union
Brexiteers celebrated while Scotland, which had voted to stay, saw candlelight vigils as UK left the EU after 47 years of membership.
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London: What was on the cards for years finally took place on Friday in Britain. Brexit became a reality.
After 47 years, Britain gave up its membership in the European Union.
Nearly three-and-a-half-years after the 2016 Brexit referendum, Britain saw the beginning of the end of its relationship with the EU at 11pm GMT.
Taking the opportunity to comment at this turning point for the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted stating, let us come together now to make the most of all the opportunities Brexit will bring - and let's unleash the potential of the whole UK," Johnson tweeted.
Brexit has been the talking point since 2016 when the referendum was conducted. The period from then until now saw drama unfold with former prime minister Theresa May trying to juggle the task of negotiating a deal with the EU, convince members of Parliament to vote for the Brexit deal and retain her seat. Theresa May ended up resigning and the responsibility fell on the shoulders of Boris Johnson.
It was inevitable, the European Parliament overwhelmingly approved Britain's departure terms from the EU in a 621-49 vote with 13 abstentions a few days ago.
The transition period will last for 11 months as agreed by Britain and the EU.
But it’s not like a band-aid that will be ripped off in a second. During this period, Britain will remain an EU member state and will have to obey all EU law and European courts.
In the coming months, it will continue to pay into the EU budget and comply with any changes to EU law.
In the transition period, the UK would frame terms that would determine the country’s relationship with the EU. If the two sides cannot come to an agreement, it would force a hard Brexit. The repercussions of this could cause major problems to the country and have an adverse effect globally.  Â
Negotiations are set to commence on March 3. In the meantime, both sides will outline their priorities and draw their red lines.
As per an ANI report, the Union Jack is being removed from all EU institutions (one of which will be placed in a museum in Brussels).
For now, Brexiteers have cheered and the development has also sparked more protests, with the people of the country divided.
Acknowledging that there were different groups of people who had varying opinion, British PM Boris Johnson, according to a BBC report stated, "I understand all those feelings and our job as the government - my job - is to bring this country together now and take us forward."
“For all its strengths and for all its admirable qualities, the EU has evolved over 50 years in a direction that no longer suits this country", the UK Prime Minister remarked.
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