Well, it’s finally happened.
The UK has begun a new future outside the European Union’s trading structures, with Boris Johnson saying it offers the chance to “transform our country”.
While disruption as a result of the increased bureaucracy between the UK and its largest trading partner is inevitable, there was little sign of the chaos some had feared on January 1.
Johnson said the UK has “taken back control of our money, our laws and our waters” after the Brexit transition period with the European Union came to an end at 11pm on December 31.
Lower trade volumes on the New Year’s Day bank holiday could mean the full impact of the new regime is yet be felt, but freight appeared to be moving freely at the borders with Ireland and France under the new arrangements.
Some loved it
Others less so
And there was plenty of imaginative… commentary
Johnson said the decision to leave the single market and customs union ended a “47-year experiment” of European Union membership.
He said the EU had provided the UK with a “safe European home” during the 1970s, but the country has now “changed out of all recognition” with global perspectives.
The UK is “free to do things differently, and if necessary better, than our friends in the EU” in 2021, he said in a video message to mark New Year.