LONDON (AP) — So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, adieu.

With little fanfare, Britain left the European Union on Friday after 47 years of membership, taking a leap into the unknown in a historic blow to the bloc.

The U.K.’s departure became official at 11 p.m. (2300GMT), midnight in Brussels, where the EU is headquartered. Thousands of enthusiastic Brexit supporters gathered outside Britain’s Parliament to welcome the moment they’d longed for since Britain’s 52%-48% vote in June 2016 to walk away from the club it had joined in 1973. The flag-waving crowd erupted in cheers as Big Ben bonged 11 times — on a recording. Parliament’s real bell has been silenced for repairs.

In a message from nearby 10 Downing St., Prime Minister Boris Johnson called Britain’s departure “a moment of real national renewal and change.”

But many Britons mourned the loss of their EU identity, and some marked the passing with tearful vigils. There was also sadness in Brussels as British flags were quietly removed from the bloc’s many buildings.

Whether Brexit makes Britain a proud nation that has reclaimed its sovereignty, or a diminished presence in Europe and the world, will be debated for years to come.

While Britain’s exit is a historic moment, it only marks the end of the first stage of the Brexit saga. When Britons wake up on Saturday, they will notice very little change. The U.K. and the EU have given themselves an 11-month “transition period” — in which the U.K. will continue to follow the bloc’s rules — to strike new agreements on trade, security and a host of other areas.

The now 27-member EU will have to bounce back from one of its biggest setbacks in its 62-year history to confront an ever more complicated world as its former member becomes a competitor, just across the English Channel.

French President Emmanuel Macron called Brexit a “historic alarm signal” that should force the EU to improve itself.

“It’s a sad day, let’s not hide it,” he said in a televised address. “But it is a day that must also lead us to do things differently.”

He insisted that European citizens need a united Europe “more than ever,” to defend their interests in the face of China and the United States, to cope with climate change and migration and technological upheaval.

In the many EU buildings of Brussels on Friday, British flags were quietly lowered, folded and taken away. This is the first time a country has left the EU, and many in the bloc rued the day. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen lamented that “as the sun rises tomorrow, a new chapter for our union of 27 will start.”

But she warned Brexit day would mark a major loss for the U.K. and said the island nation was heading for a lonelier existence.

“Strength does not lie in splendid isolation, but in our unique union,” she said.

Johnson insisted post-Brexit Britain would be “simultaneously a great European power and truly global in our range and ambitions.”

“We want this to be the beginning of a new era of friendly cooperation between the EU and an energetic Britain,” Johnson said in a pre-recorded address to the country broadcast an hour before Britain’s exit.

In a break with usual practice, independent media outlets were not allowed to film Johnson’s speech, which the government recorded Thursday at 10 Downing St.

Johnson won an election victory in December with a dual promise to “get Brexit done” and deliver improved jobs, infrastructure, and services for Britain’s most deprived areas, where support for leaving the EU is strongest. On Friday, he symbolically held a Cabinet meeting in the pro-Brexit town of Sunderland in northeast England, rather than in London.

Johnson is a Brexit enthusiast, but he knows many Britons aren’t, and his Conservative government sought to mark the moment with quiet dignity. Red, white and blue lights illuminated government buildings and a countdown clock projected onto the prime minister’s Downing Street residence.

There was no such restraint in nearby Parliament Square, where arch-Brexiteer Nigel Farage gathered a crowd of several thousand, who belted out the patriotic song “Land of Hope and Glory” as they waited for the moment that even Farage sometimes doubted would ever come.

“This is the single most important moment in the modern history of our great nation,” Farage told the crowd.

“The war is over,” said Farage, who often describes Britain’s relationship with Europe in martial terms. “We have won.”

Londoner Donna Jones said she had come to “be part of history.”

“It doesn’t mean we’re anti-Europe, it just means we want to be self-sufficient in a certain way,” she said.

But Britons who cherished their membership in the bloc — and the freedom it bought to live anywhere across of 28 countries — were mourning.

“Many of us want to just mark our sadness in public,” said Ann Jones, who joined dozens of other remainers on a march to the EU’s mission in London.

“And we don’t want trouble, we just want to say, well you know, we didn’t want this.”

Britain’s journey to Brexit has been long, rocky — and far from over.

The U.K. was never a wholehearted EU member, but actually leaving the bloc was long considered a fringe idea. It gradually gained strength within the Conservative Party, which has a wing of fierce “euroskeptics” — opponents of EU membership. Former Prime Minister David Cameron eventually agreed to hold a referendum, saying he wanted to settle the issue once and for all.

It hasn’t worked out that way. Since the 2016 vote, the U.K. has held fractious negotiations with the EU that finally, late last year, secured a deal on divorce terms. But Britain is leaving the bloc arguably as divided as it was on referendum day.

By and large, Britain’s big cities voted to stay in the EU, while small towns voted to leave. England and Wales backed Brexit, while Northern Ireland and Scotland voted to remain.

Candlelit vigils were held in several Scottish cities, government buildings in Edinburgh were lit up in the EU’s blue and yellow colors, and the bloc’s flag continued to fly outside the Scottish Parliament.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Brexit was “a moment of profound sadness.”

“And here in Scotland, given that it is happening against the will of the vast majority of us, that sadness will be tinged with anger,” she said in a speech in Edinburgh.

Sturgeon’s Scottish National Party government is demanding the right to hold a referendum on independence from the U.K., something Johnson refuses to grant.

London, which is home to more than 1 million EU citizens, also voted by a wide margin to stay in the bloc.

Mayor Sadiq Khan said he was “heartbroken” about Brexit. But he insisted London would remain that welcomed all, regardless of “the color of your skin, the color of your flag, the color of your passport.”

Negotiations between Britain and the EU on their new relationship are due to start in earnest in March, and the early signs are not encouraging. The EU says Britain can’t have full access to the EU’s single market unless it follows the bloc’s rules, but Britain insists it will not agree to follow an EU rule book in return for unfettered trade.

With Johnson adamant he won’t extend the transition period beyond Dec. 31, months of uncertainty and acrimony lie ahead.

In the English port of Dover, just 20 miles (32 kilometers) across the Channel from France, retiree Philip Barry said he was confident it would all be worth it.

“My expectation is that there may be a little bump or two in the road but in the end it will even out,” he said. “Somebody once said: short-term pain but long-term gain.”

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Associated Press video journalists Jo Kearney and Philipp-Moritz Jenne contributed. Casert reported from Brussels.

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Follow AP’s full coverage of Brexit and British politics at: https://www.apnews.com/Brexit

Source: https://apnews.com/e48bf51838ced94e2d92adba189b4944

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Theresa May will be urged to set out a “Plan B” for Brexit during crunch talks with Nicola Sturgeon in Edinburgh today amid growing fears that the UK will leave the EU without a deal.

The Prime Minister has said ahead of the meeting that the Brexit aftermath can lead to the spread of “economic prosperity across the country.”

The whole of the UK deserves answers from the Prime Minister and we cannot continue without a back up plan
NICOLA STURGEON
But it comes as a stark survey of businesses north of the Border warns of a negative economic impact of life outside the EU for Scotland with “uncertainty in the UK government’s negotiating position” criticised.

The leaders meet with relations between Westminster and Holyrood at an all-time low as both governments are locked in an unprecedented constitutional battle at the UK Supreme Court over claims of a power grab on the Scottish Parliament.

Mrs May will sign off £600 million of city deal funding for Edinburgh as she visits the capital and agree millions more in further investment north of the Border.

The trip will be dominated by ongoing concerns over Brexit, though, with Ms Sturgeon poised to step up the pressure on the Prime Minister as negotiations in Brussels show little sign of breakthrough with just seven months until the UK’s departure.

UK Trade Secretary Liam Fox warned at the weekend the prospect of a “no deal” Brexit now looks the most likely scenario. It would mean hefty tariffs for firms exporting into Europe and questions over the future of EU nationals living here.

But Mrs May said ahead of today’s visit: “As we leave the EU, the UK Government is working in partnership with business, academia and the devolved administrations to create more good jobs and spread economic prosperity across the country.

“By making the most of our country’s assets and the talents of all of our people, we can build a brighter future for the whole UK.”

Read more: Nicola Sturgeon leads Britain’s most influential woman poll

The UK government has been touting its plans for Brexit agreed at Chequers – including plans for a common rulebook on all goods – to the EU and its leaders. But the EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier already appears to have rejected the plan, prompting widespread concern that a “no deal” scenario seems inevitable.

The First Minister will today call on Mrs May to set out a “Plan B” to secure agreement on withdrawal and also lay the groundwork for the UK’s post-Brexit future.

“A no deal Brexit would be utterly unacceptable and deeply damaging, but by talking it up as a negotiating tactic there is a very real danger it becomes a reality,” Ms Sturgeon said ahead of the meeting.

“With the Chequers proposals falling flat, even if a withdrawal agreement can be secured, there is a very real risk that we end up with a blind Brexit – which will see the UK step off the cliff edge next March without knowing what landing place will be.

“That would do as much harm to jobs, investment and the economy as a no deal Brexit and would leave the country directionless through the transition period.

“Given this lack of clarity and real concerns of no agreement, it is time the Prime Minister told us what her Plan B is. We cannot have no deal and we cannot have a blind Brexit.

“The whole of the UK deserves answers from the Prime Minister and we cannot continue without a back up plan.”

A new survey of 350 firms north of the border conducted out by the respect Fraser of Allander Institute think tank paints an increasingly gloomy picture of the post-Brexit economic landscape in Scotland.

Only 6 per cent said the Brexit decision had a positive impact on their business, with 44 per cent saying it had been damaging. It also found three-quarters of firms said they had not received enough information about leaving the European Union to allow them to plan for the different possible outcomes of Brexit – with 59 per cent blaming “uncertainty in the UK’s government’s objectives” in the negotiations as the key factor in this.

An agreed settlement still remains the probable result of the ongoing Brexit talks, a spokesman for the Prime Minister said yesterday, but there is a risk negotiations may fail.

“We continue to believe that a deal is the most likely outcome, because reaching a good deal is not only in the interests of the UK, it is in the interests of the EU and its 27 members,” he added.

“But the Trade Secretary is right to say there is a risk of the negotiations not succeeding and the government has to prepare for all eventualities.”

The spokesman said the Brexit White Paper published last month following the Cabinet summit at Chequers was recognised by Brussels as “a significant move.”

“Following the publication of the White Paper, we are now in a serious conversation across a broad range of issues with the EU,” he said.

“They recognise that the White Paper represents a significant move by the UK and now they need to respond.”

Former Brexit secretary David Davis has warned that the EU will be making a “massive miscalculation” if it thinks the UK is not ready to walk away from talks without a deal.

“This has great scope for being a massive miscalculation on the part of the EU that could end up with no deal by accident,” Mr Davis said

“It’s certainly not the intention of the EU to have a no-deal Brexit but they are misjudging us at the moment. The UK Parliament does not want no deal but it’s certainly not going to be pushed around by the European Parliament.”

Chancellor Philip Hammond has also privately warned City bankers to seek non-European business in preparation for possible restrictions on access to EU markets, it was reported yesterday.

Ms Sturgeon has already indicated that she plans to a second independence referendum after Brexit once the terms of the UK’s departure from the EU become clear, but that is unlikely to be the focus of today’s talks.

The UK Supreme Court is currently considering an unprecedented constitutional clash between Westminster and Holyrood. It comes after the Scottish Government passed its own post-Brexit legal framework for Scotland, after claiming that the UK’s Government’s EU Withdrawal Bill was a “power grab” on the Scottish Parliament in key areas like agriculture and fishing.

Although a political agreement on that now seems unlikely, Ms Sturgeon 
will call on the Prime Minister to engage in discussions about how to give Scotland a role in future negotiations following a recent House of Commons Public Administration 
and Constitutional Affairs committee report highlighting the lack of proper engagement with devolved governments.

“The UK government has launched a power grab on the Scottish Parliament and now even a House of Commons committee says Whitehall takes little account of the realities of devolution in the UK,” the SNP leader added.

“It cannot carry on like this and the UK government needs to start listening to the views of the people of Scotland.”

Westminster has said it must hold on to some powers being repatriated from the EU for a limited period to protect the integrity of the UK market.

Read more: Brexit could have a ‘disastrous’ impact on Edinburgh International Festival

Source: https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/brexit-nicola-sturgeon-urges-theresa-may-to-set-out-plan-b-1-4779674

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