Prime Minister to chair Cabinet in Sunderland ahead of Downing Street Brexit light show
Britain will formally leave the European Union tonight at 11pm, more than three and a half years after the historic referendum vote.
Boris Johnson will host a cabinet meeting in Sunderland today, visiting the city which first gave indications of the momentous result when its vote to leave was announced in the early hours of 24 June 2016.
The government will mark the UK’s departure with a Downing Street light show and the Prime Minister will address the country at 10pm, stressing the need for unity.
The celebrations are expected to be relatively muted, with the Prime Minister conscious of the still-fresh divisions provoked by the 2016 referendum. Number 10 will host a relatively small reception for those who have helped secure Brexit, and celebrations will include a light display.
The understated tone is likely to be overshadowed by Leave Means Leave’s blow-out party just down the road at Parliament Square. Organisers claim to be expecting Brexiters in their thousands to attend.
In an address to the nation at 10pm, Johnson will stress the need for unity.
“Our job as the government – my job – is to bring this country together and take us forward. And the most important thing to say tonight is that this is not an end but a beginning,” the Prime Minister will say.
“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.
“This is the moment when we begin to unite and level up.”
While Johnson’s Friday night speech will focus on the UK, the Prime Minister is expected to set out his vision for the UK’s future trading relationship, not just with the EU but the rest of the world, on Monday morning.
As well as setting out the UK’s offensive positions – key among them fisheries and financial services – Johnson is expected to set out as a priority trade deals with other parts of the world including Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
It is also thought he will stress the importance of parts of Africa and the Commonwealth in the UK’s future as an independent trading nation.
Main image: Getty