The UK has officially left the European Union after 47 years of membership – and more than three years after it voted to do so in a referendum.<\/p>\n
The historic moment, which happened at 23:00 GMT, was marked by both celebrations and anti-Brexit protests.<\/p>\n
Candlelit vigils were held in Scotland, which voted to stay in the EU, while Brexiteers partied in London’s Parliament Square.<\/p>\n
Boris Johnson has vowed to bring the country together and “take us forward”.<\/p>\n
In a message released on social media an hour before the UK’s departure, the prime minister said: “For many people this is an astonishing moment of hope, a moment they thought would never come.<\/p>\n
“And there are many of course who feel a sense of anxiety and loss.<\/p>\n
“And then of course there is a third group – perhaps the biggest – who had started to worry that the whole political wrangle would never come to an end.<\/p>\n
“I understand all those feelings and our job as the government – my job – is to bring this country together now and take us forward.”<\/p>\n
He said that “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”.<\/p>\n
“The most important thing to say tonight is that this is not an end but a beginning,” he said, and “a moment of real national renewal and change”.<\/p>\n
Brexit parties were held in pubs and social clubs across the UK as the country counted down to its official departure.<\/p>\n
Hundreds gathered in Parliament Square to celebrate Brexit, singing patriotic songs and cheering speeches from leading Brexiteers, including Nigel Farage.<\/p>\n
The Brexit Party leader said: “Let us celebrate tonight as we have never done before.<\/p>\n
“This is the greatest moment in the modern history of our great nation.”<\/p>\n
Pro-EU demonstrators earlier staged a march in Whitehall to bid a “fond farewell” to the union – and anti-Brexit rallies and candlelit vigils were held in Scotland.<\/p>\n
Other symbolic moments on a day of mixed emotions included:<\/p>\n
–The Union flag being removed from the European Union institutions in Brussels<\/p>\n
–The Cabinet meeting in Sunderland, the first city to declare in favour of Brexit when the 2016 results were announced<\/p>\n
–A light show illuminating 10 Downing Street and Union flags lining The Mall<\/p>\n
–A 50p coin to mark the occasion entering circulation<\/p>\n
In Northern Ireland, the campaign group Border Communities Against Brexit staged a series of protests in Armagh, near to the border with the Irish Republic.<\/p>\n
The Irish border – now the UK’s land border with the EU – was a major sticking point in the Brexit divorce talks.<\/p>\n
NI and the Irish Republic “will continue to remain neighbours”, said NI First Minister Arlene Foster on RT\u00c9 on Friday.<\/p>\n
At 23:00 GMT, Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted a picture of the EU flag, adding: “Scotland will return to the heart of Europe as an independent country- #LeaveALightOnForScotland”.<\/p>\n
Ms Sturgeon is calling for a new referendum on Scottish independence, arguing that Brexit is a “material change in circumstances”.<\/p>\n
Speaking in Cardiff, Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford said Wales, which voted to leave the EU, remained a “European nation”.<\/p>\n
Labour MP Hilary Benn, who chairs the Brexit select committee and backed Remain, said he was “sad last night… but we have to accept it”.<\/p>\n
The UK was “always reluctant Europeans”, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, adding: “We joined late and we left early.”<\/p>\n
What now? It’s happened.<\/p>\n
A dreary night didn’t discourage those celebrating in Parliament Square. We wake this morning out of the European Union. But we follow their rules until the end of the year, without a say.<\/p>\n
We are separate after more than 40 years, but remember much of the status quo will hold for now – the UK and the EU, the awkward couple, finally divorced – but still sharing a house and the bills.<\/p>\n
But what the prime minister hails as a new era, a bright new dawn, starts months of hard bargaining with our neighbours across the Channel.<\/p>\n
The UK’s requests: a free trade agreement, cooperation on security, and new arrangements for fishing are just some of the vital arguments that lie ahead.<\/p>\n
Courtesy: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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