Brexit day: Boris Johnson to hail ‘dawn of a new era’
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to hail the “dawn of a new era” in a speech to the country on Brexit day.
At 11pm today, the UK will officially ends its 47-year membership with the European Union.
Johnson will say the night marks “the moment when the dawn breaks and the curtain goes up on a new act”.
Johnson is to chair a meeting of his cabinet in Sunderland later today. The first city to back Brexit as results from the 2016 referendum came in.
The Prime Minister is set to address the nation at around 10pm this evening, calling the changing relationship with Brussels, “not an end, but a beginning”.
“Our job as the government – my job – is to bring this country together and take us forward,” Johnson is epxected to say. “It is a moment of real national renewal and change.
“This is the dawn of a new era in which we no longer accept that your life chances – your family’s life chances – should depend on which part of the country you grow up in.”
While the UK will no longer be a member of the EU following today, there is still plenty of work to be done as the UK tries to strike a trade deal with the bloc by the end of the year.
Although Big Ben will not ring at 11pm, despite campaign efforts, Downing Street will be illuminated with a light show, while a new 50p coin will also enter circulation.
In unofficial proceedings, Nigel Farage is expected to lead a party on Parliament Square with other Brexiteers.
In Brussels, the UK flag will be removed from the EU institutions, with one expected to be consigned to a museum.