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UK set for Brexit, as PM promises 'new dawn'
The UK [officially left] the European Union at 23:00 GMT, ending 47 years of membership.
[...] Pro and anti-Brexit demonstrations and marches are being held across the country, as the UK flag is taken down from EU institutions in Brussels.
Little will change immediately, as the UK begins a "transition period".
Most EU laws will continue to be in force - including the free movement of people - until the end of December, by which time the UK aims to have reached a permanent free trade agreement with the EU.
[...] The prime minister held a cabinet meeting at the National Glass Centre, a museum and arts centre in Sunderland, the city that was the first to back Brexit when results were announced after the referendum.
The meeting was held amid tight security.
[...] Mr Johnson told the Cabinet it was time to start a "new chapter in the United Kingdom's story" and end the division of the past three and a half years, according to a Downing Street spokesman.
The Cabinet discussed future trade deals, including seeking a a Canada-style free trade agreement with the EU, and Mr Johnson thanked Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay for the work of his department, which is being wound up.
The PM told ministers the government aimed to have 80% of the UK's trade with other nations covered by free trade agreements within three years.
[...] "This is the moment when the dawn breaks and the curtain goes up on a new act. It is a moment of real national renewal and change."
[...] A new commemorative 50p coin will also come into circulation to mark the UK's withdrawal.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 01 2020, @04:23PM (3 children)
This is the usual waffle about "sovereignty" and "vassal states".
What specifically are you talking about? The emperor's new clothes are going to be painfully visible to everyone now.
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 01 2020, @05:10PM (2 children)
It's simple. People should rule themselves. This would imply no government, but that of course does not work. In reality there are plenty who seek power over others and will happily hurt others to get ahead. The strongest of these sorts would eventually claim power and would become the defacto government. So there is the reluctant necessity of a government, but this government should be as close to the people it rules as possible. That is both figurative and literal, as the two tend to be directly related in this case. The EU in times past did not matter. It was little more than a more formal agreement of cooperation. In modern times the EU is not only becoming an extremely active political body but overtly aiming to become its own super-country with nations as its states. I believe Britain should be ruled by Britons, not subject to whatever happens to the be politically en vogue among a collective of other nations.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 01 2020, @08:59PM (1 child)
Specifically what were your problems with the EU rules that will be fixed now that you will be ruled by Eton/Oxford heirs and landowners?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 02 2020, @10:55PM
The EU copyright directive
A stop on the literally ceaseless migration of "refugees"
EU leadership that is completely unaccountable to the British people
Return of UK fishing rights to the UK
Taxes to pay for the needless EU army
Candle wicks are no longer EU mandated to have a minimum length