Thousands took to the streets all across the United Kingdom to celebrate the country’s exit from the European Union. “People dance in the street to celebrate Brexit as UK leaves European Union,” The Manchester Evening News, reported.
A countdown clock was projected onto number 10 Downing Street, the UK prime minister’s official residence. It was a moment of “national revival,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a televised address on the eve of Brexit.
The biggest event took place at London’s Parliament Square, where thousands gathered to celebrate the historic night. Across the square people “could be heard spontaneously breaking into hearty cries of ‘Independence Day!’ or, more simply, ‘Brexit!’,” reported UK newspaper The Independent.
Crowds cheered as the man of the night, Nigel Farage, took to the stage for a brief moment at the Parliament Square. Popularly know as Mr. Brexit, Farage dedicated his life to freeing Britain from the shackles of the EU since he first founded the anti-EU UK Independence Party (UKIP) 26 years ago.
“We did it. We transformed the landscape of our country,” he told a roaring crowd. “The people have beaten the establishment. The real winner tonight is democracy. And I am someone who believes we should be pro-Europe, but not the European Union.”
Anti-Brexit protesters tried to disrupt the party, but a quick response by the police blocked them from entering the square. Other pro-EU supporters mourned the night with tearful candlelight vigils and “Missing EU Already” marches.
“UK exits European Union with parties across the country,” The Telegraph reported:
The UK left the European Union on Friday night, as Brexiteers celebrated the end of a winding three-year political process with parties across the country.Prime Minister Boris Johnson said there may be “bumps in the road” but Brexit can “unleash the full potential” of the UK now it has left the bloc.The Prime Minister addressed the country as a countdown clock projected onto Downing Street marked the final minutes before Brexit.Parties congregated across the UK, with Mr Johnson hosting his own reception for senior Tories and hundreds gathering under Union flags in Parliament Square.As the moment of the UK’s departure from the European Union approached, the Prime Minister acknowledged mixed feelings in a still-divided nation about the end of 47 years of close links with Brussels.But Nigel Farage said it was “the greatest moment in the modern history of our great nation'”.
In the hours leading up to midnight, all UK flags were taken down from the EU buildings across Europe. A Union Jack has now been placed in the House of European History in Brussels to mark the day. The scenes of British flags being removed from EU buildings triggered scenes of joy at Brexit Eve Parties in pubs and venues across the UK.
The United States welcomed the British exit from the EU. “I am pleased the UK and EU have agreed on a Brexit deal that honors the will of the British people,” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. “We will continue building upon our strong, productive, and prosperous relationship with the UK as they enter this next chapter.”
The EU and European leaders sounded less thrilled. “We want to have the best possible relationship with the United Kingdom, but it will never be as good as membership,” lamented EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The French official reaction was much more bitter. As The Guardian newspaper reported: “French president Emmanuel Macron warned that Brexit was an ‘alarm signal’ of huge historic significance, reiterating his claim that the 2016 leave campaign was based on ‘lies, exaggerations and cheques that were promised but will never come’.”
Three EU countries, namely Germany, Austria and Slovenia, revoked their mutual extradition treaty with the UK on the eve of Brexit. The measure means that “a German sex offender could commit a crime in Britain before absconding to Germany and escape trial in a British court,” The Telegraph noted on Thursday.
Not just the EU countries, the Liberal British media outlets, too, couldn’t hide their rage, as publicly funded BBC and other leading UK broadcasters refused to air Prime Minister Johnson’s historic Brexit message on flimsy ‘technical’ grounds.
‘Union flag taken down outside EU Council building in Brussels’
[Cover image via YouTube]
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