The Latest: History arrives: UK leaves EU after 47 years

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

LONDON (AP) — The Latest on Britain’s departure Friday night from the European Union:

11:15 p.m.

Britain has left the European Union after 47 years of membership, taking a leap into the unknown in a historic blow to the bloc.

Brexit became official Friday at 11 p.m. in London and midnight in Brussels, where the EU is headquartered.

Thousands of enthusiastic Brexit supporters gathered outside the U.K. Parliament in London cheered as the hour struck. In a recorded message, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called Britain’s departure “a moment of real national renewal and change” that would lead to a bolder, more energetic nation.



Brexit supporters gather during a rally at the Parliament square in London, Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. Britain officially leaves the European Union on Friday after a debilitating political period that has bitterly divided the nation since the 2016 Brexit referendum. (AP Photo/(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)


Read more: https://apnews.com/1ea719e1f34cdda386181256a2109a63

[bucolic_frolic]

1. Don't know what to make of it

Wealth and innovation drive Empire. Now wealth and innovation drive contractual cash flows?

You'd never bet against British ingenuity, but you wouldn't want British engineering. Their car brands are mostly sold to and manufactured in China now.

If you're going to go it alone as a country, you must produce goods the world wants and have a positive balance of trade.

Wish them well but expect some stumbles that might be investing opportunities.

[Devil Child]

2. Good luck UK

Life is going to start feeling very different.

[denem]

3. Putin wins.

[iluvtennis]

9. My thoughts exactly. Break down the EU step by step. 😒 nt

[lagomorph777]

30. Congratulations to Vlad. Another plot completed successfully.

A friend of mine operates a business in England; he is heavily export-dependent. He is not happy.

[Lonestarblue]

4. The UK is likely to become smaller rather than being a "bolder, more energetic nation."

Scotland could very well decide that its future belongs with the EU. Northern Ireland could also decide that a united Ireland is better than staying in the UK. If Scotland leaves the union, one of the UK’s exports—North Sea oil—also leaves with it, leaving the UK with even less to negotiate trade deals. I wish the Brits well.

[yaesu]

6. Yep, this will not end well for them. nt

[HarlanPepper]

18. There are so many ramifications to this.

I ask myself what they make that the rest of the world just has to have? Nothing really. They have fishing, and some manufacturing, and the financial service industry is big in london, but there's not a lot there. I say this as an unapologetic anglophile who loves the country as much as i love my own. Sometimes I feel more at home there than I do here, despite their own rise in kooky nationalism. But I think the real impact will be felt later, when Scotland leaves, and there is unification of Ireland which is probably a generation away. Then the UK is basically England. That will look like a loss more than a win.

[Xolodno]

22. Think I read somewhere...

...the financial sector is already planning a flight out of the UK.

Have to say, in some ways, the EU is probably smiling at this...the UK gets a brain drain into the EU. And Scotland will most likely separate itself and reunite with the EU.

It will take some time, of course, but eventually England will find itself a former shadow of itself and will want to rejoin....but by then, it will be too late. They will rejoin...and have no influence in the EU. They successfully neutered themselves.

[d_r]

27. Don't forget

The fecking Welsh

[yaesu]

5. Another win for putin as his cyber was was in full force pushing for this to happen, lets hope

he doesn't get a grand slam with another 4 yrs of fascist control here.

[sandensea]

8. And for the neo-cons

Breaking up and otherwise weakening the EU has been a cherished neo-con goal for decades.

The reason? They see the euro as the only viable competitor to the use of the dollar as the world's fiat currency of choice.

[ArizonaLib]

28. Yip

Enoch Powell 'Rivers of blood' speech just had its 50th anniversary last year.

Sad.

[Botany]

10. And some of the very same Russians and Russian backed organizations that backed brexit ...

... worked to make Donald Trump POTUS. Vlad is a happy man right now.

[sandensea]

7. The banksters are happy (no more pesky EU anti-laundering regulations)

But not too many others will be, once they feel the effects.

[ancianita]

11. Oh, definitely. London banksters can continue to shell game an unregulated mess that invited

Russian money in decades ago.

[sandensea]

13. Yeah. One big happy family.

And Cheeto's their bastard son.

[DavidDvorkin]

12. About 42% of the UK population are under age 47

So that part of the population has never known a time when the UK was not in the EU.

[SergeStorms]

14. Isolationism.

Directly from the mind of Vladimir Putin, and coming to a country very near and dear to you. And the republicans are more than willing to allow it to happen here.

[IronLionZion]

15. Scexit next. Time for Scotland to peace out from UK and rejoin the EU

and Northern Ireland can avoid the troubles through reunification with Ireland. Let England wallow in lonely isolation feeling sorry for themselves.

[deurbano]

16. Friday was a very sad day for both our democracies, but a triumphant one for the global oligarchy.

My daughter had a UK test for her AP Comparative gov class yesterday, so we'd watched some Brexit explanation YouTube videos to supplement her out-of-date textbook. (Of course, ANY textbook would be out-of-date regarding that fast-moving train wreck!) It was depressing to have to relive the unfolding of events, while already knowing the disastrous outcome.

Last semester, she had AP American gov, and the semester was ending just as MAGAT King was being impeached. Current events have proved (distressingly) relevant for both courses.

[Mickju]

17. I expect disaster.

Right wing initiatives rarely produce the expected result.

[lagomorph777]

31. Right wing initiatives always produce the expected result.

I always expect disaster when right-wingers call the shots. They do get the intended results; those results are always in opposition to what most people actually want or need.

[LeftishBrit]

19. Devastating

As I've been saying for the last three and a half years, we have become the first country in history to impose economic sanctions on itself.

And the whole thing has unleashed some really ugly things, from racism and xenophobia, to the desire to crush dissidents who 'seek to subvert the will of the people'.

But not everyone greeted it with enthusiasm:

In my 70% Remain-voting city, here is how we marked the bloody disaster:


https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/18203711.oxford-says-farewell-eu-brexit-begins/

WARNING: Don't read this in public, unless you don't mind people seeing you cry:

https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-stories/led-by-donkeys-brexit-message-1-6492234

[Kali]

20. oh, you are right

something in my eye.

[Yavin4]

21. Hey UK, kiss all of your social programs goodbye!

Austerity is here. You're going to just love the American style healthcare system.

[lapfog_1]

23. The United Kingdom (1707 - 2027)

in seven years Northern Ireland and Scotland will leave the UK.

Leaving just England... a tiny nothing of a nation...

From a great power and perhaps the largest empire the world has ever known to a poor irrelevant tourist trap.

[EndlessWire]

24. I love the UK

and I don't want bad times to hit it. I guess I just don't understand Brexit. With all that's happening here, I never quite studied up on it.

But, I can remember when Britain wasn't a member, and I believe that I can remember when they joined. I don't remember the UK having a lot of trouble before. I don't think they will have a huge countrywide crash. I am no expert, though.

Britain has always been our primary go-to friend. They always had our back. So, I am expecting to beat asshole Trump and to renew our friendship.

Don't give up, United Kingdom. May have a tough time to start with, but you'll be okay.

[Historic NY]

25. All that money spent on the Chunnel.....

it expedited the shipment of good and products and people.

[Tiggeroshii]

26. Helluva setback for European progress and the path towards global unity.

But I have a feeling that this is 2 steps back, while 5 steps forward is on the doorstep.

[Takket]

29. England has committed economic suicide

Any major business there that wants to trade freely with the EU is going to leave now and set up shop elsewhere. Price of goods is going to skyrocket in England. Scotland and NI are going to leave.

It will be a mess.