Boris Johnson hails UK’s ‘regained sovereignty’ on fifth anniversary of Brexit vote
Boris Johnson has hailed the UK’s “regained sovereignty” post-Brexit tonight on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the 2016 EU referendum.
Johnson said that the “decision to leave the EU may now part of our history” and that “our clear mission is to utilise the freedoms it brings to shape a better future for our people”.
The Prime Minister’s Brexit anniversary message comes amid a tense stand-off between the UK and EU over how to implement the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Anger in the Northern Ireland unionist communities and business disruption caused by checks on goods crossing the Irish Sea has seen Johnson try to adjust how the protocol is administered.
Johnson said that five years ago from tomorrow “the British people made the momentous decision to leave the European Union and take back control of our destiny”.
“This government got Brexit done and we’ve already reclaimed our money, laws, borders and waters,” he said.
“Now as we recover from this pandemic, we will seize the true potential of our regained sovereignty to unite and level up our whole United Kingdom. With control over our regulations and subsidies, and with freeports driving new investment, we will spur innovation, jobs and renewal across every part of our country.
“The decision to leave the EU may now part of our history, but our clear mission is to utilise the freedoms it brings to shape a better future for our people.”
The UK has now signed 68 trade deals with non-EU countries to go alongside the agreement struck with the EU last year.
However, the City of London lost its pre-Brexit access on 1 January this year after the Brexit transition period ended.
This resulted in Amsterdam overtaking London as the share trading capital in Europe in January, however the gap has since closed once again.