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Four years, 27 weeks and two days after a referendum that divided the country almost in the middle, the UK left the EU’s orbit on Thursday evening in a particularly low-key start and marked by warnings of likely disruption to come .
In a sometimes grim New Year message, Boris Johnson largely ignored Brexit, an outcome he arguably shaped more than any other politician, to instead focus on the Covid-19 record and what he called “The severity of 2020”.
With the majority of England under severe restrictions and hospitals warning of a calamitous winter coronavirus crisis in the weeks to come, the Big Ben chime, temporarily restored from ongoing restoration work, has sounded through streets almost empty by 11pm.
It was the pivotal moment for Brexit. While the UK officially left the EU at the end of January 2020, a period of transition has meant that almost all tangible changes have been postponed – until now.
Starting Friday morning, individuals and businesses in the UK and beyond face a dizzying new array of red tape, much of which remains to be confirmed, covering everything from travel, residence, work and tourism, to the provision of goods and services. .
Considerable government concern remains focused on the situation at Channel ports in Kent, particularly after Covid-related delays earlier in December saw thousands of trucks pull back at a disused airfield – one of 10 sites prepared for possible disruption caused by Brexit.
The moment of Brexit passed unceremoniously in Dover. The city had a ghostly quality, Covid emptying it of New Year’s celebrations, as 11 p.m. approached with half a dozen trucks trying to cross the line before the new trade barriers were erected. Welcomed by two police officers, they learned that the last ferry had left at 9 p.m. for France. Those who had proof of a Covid-19 test in the past 72 hours were allowed to go to the port’s small truck park where they could sleep at night before boarding the 7.40am ferry, on first trip from Dover under new Brexit trade rules.
Officials are hoping for a smooth start to the new era, but brace for possible delays next week, with government estimates suggesting more than half of small businesses have yet to prepare for the end of free movement goods and services.
This all adds to an entrance vat from the Prime Minister already brimming with the impact of the coronavirus, including the government’s decision to postpone the return to school of some students to next week, and the Labor Party accusing the secretary in Education, Gavin Williamson, of “serial incompetence”.
Johnson used much of his New Years message to announce the end of a year “in which the government was forced to tell people how to live their lives, how long to wash their hands, how much households could come together ”.
It was a far cry from his 2019 message, where, fresh out of a landslide election victory, the Prime Minister had promised “a fantastic year and a remarkable decade for our UK”.
Johnson has maintained part of his signature Brexit recall this time around, arguing that the development of the Oxford / AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine illustrated a UK ‘free to do things differently, and if necessary better, than our friends at the EU ”.
“This is an incredible time for this country,” Johnson said, citing what he said were limitless possibilities with trade and innovation. “We have our freedom in our hands and it’s up to us to make the most of it.”
The reality, at least in the short term, is that 11 p.m. Thursday marked the end of many earlier freedoms for UK individuals and businesses, even to the point of restricting where freight drivers can travel in the UK.
To avoid the build-up of trucks in Channel ports, carriers now need what is known as a Kent Access Permit, or “kermit” for short, to even enter the county. From Friday, those without the 24-hour pass can be arrested by government agents, fined £ 300 and fired.
However, an unresolved issue in the trade deal, agreed between Johnson and the EU on Christmas Eve and passed into law by Parliament on Wednesday, has been partially resolved.
A last-minute deal between the UK government and Spain will allow Gibraltarians to move freely between UK Overseas Territory and the EU – but the deal won’t come into effect until later this year .
Spain’s Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya said she expected border controls, albeit lightly enforced, to be needed for the next six months to allow the agreement in principle to become official.
Under this agreement, Gibraltar will be part of the EU’s Schengen free trade area. Rather, checks will be carried out at Rock’s airport and ports by the EU’s Frontex border agency, a point of contention in talks with the UK government.
Dominic Raab, UK Foreign Secretary, said: “All parties are committed to mitigating the effects of the end of the transition period on Gibraltar, and in particular [to] ensuring smooth borders, which is clearly in the best interests of people living on both sides. We remain loyal to our support for Gibraltar and its sovereignty. “
Spain has refused to have the post-Brexit trade and security deal applied to Gibraltar, over which it has a territorial claim. Gibraltar’s head of government Fabian Picardo said: “There will be complexity ahead… we could end up with an agreement on the [free] the movement of people but not of goods. “
Northern Ireland will also see a more phased approach in the post-Brexit world, with the requirement for customs declarations when retailers in Britain send goods to non-commercial customers in Northern Ireland delayed for three months.
With Northern Ireland remaining subject to Single Market and EU Customs Union rules, food products of animal origin shipped there from the rest of the UK will also require export health certificates at from April.
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