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: 2) by Phoenix666 on Saturday February 01 2020, @09:48PM
Trump won the Republican nomination and election despite the uniform opposition of the Establishment. He has since survived multiple attempts by that same Establishment to remove him from office. He is an attempt by a portion of the electorate to depose the corrupt system. The jury is still out on whether that is what he will actually do, but the verdict is certainly in now on whether the keepers of the status quo want him in office.
Britons underscored their determination for Brexit in the last elections. Labor got shellacked. There can be no doubt now that the British people meant what they said the first time.
We'll see if the American electorate re-affirm their earlier choices also.
Washington DC delenda est.