Since the referendum in June 2016, Brexit has been a continuing saga – a never ending or rather a never beginning story. Now, finally here it is, but it is far from being over yet: it is just the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end, depending on how we look at it.

What happens at midnight on Friday January 31? Not a lot.

What happens today when Britain officially leaves the European Union? Except for some parties organised by Brexit supporters, most people in the UK and Europe will see no difference at all.

But for political leaders February 1 starts the countdown clock on the tangible changes that Brexit will bring: new arrangements for Britain’s trade, customs, travel and regulation with the EU and the rest of the world.

Until then, an 11-month transition period ensures that everyday friction points and the biggest challenges of the Brexit project — cross-border travel, personal rights and immigration — remain unchanged until at least December 31.

“Virtually nothing will change for businesses or for the public,” the Dutch government says on its Brexit-readiness website.

What does change on January 31?

There’s no going back. From the early hours of Saturday, Britain cannot revoke Article 50 and it will not be a part of the EU unless it applies to join.

The Withdrawal Agreement, negotiated by Theresa May and renegotiated by Boris Johnson, becomes a binding treaty between the EU and Britain, enforceable with penalties.

Britain is no longer part of EU decision-making structures; ministers, including Prime Minister Johnson, will not attend EU summits unless invited, Britain’s 73 MEPs will no longer sit in the European Parliament, and its finance ministry must settle its ‘divorce bill’.

The parliamentary change could prove to be a source of mutual relief for officials in Brussels and Strasbourg and Brexit MEPs such as Nigel Farage.

Planning will start for the future UK-Irish border in Northern Ireland — the infrastructure headache that caused so much political deadlock during 2018 and 2019.

Cross-border citizens and ‘settled status’

For three million EU citizens living in the UK and one million British citizens residing in the EU, a new deal protecting rights will come into force, replacing the rights guaranteed by EU membership.

The terms of the deal, and examples of how it will work in practice, are set out in the EU citizens’ rights and Brexit section of the European Commission website.

During the transition period until December 31, the deal allows UK citizens to remain where they live and to continue receiving health care and pensions overseas.

It also permanently grants residence rights to EU citizens living in the UK. “The Withdrawal Agreement will make it very clear that, once granted to individual citizens, it will not be possible to withdraw the UK settled status from individual EU citizens,” it explains. UK legislation enacting these rights will prevail over any other legislation in order to ensure these rights are kept.

What does not change on January 31?

Aside from the democratic and legal changes above, every other aspect of EU membership remains applicable to Britain during the transition period.

Until at least December 31, EU benefits and protections such as freedom of movement, mobile phone roaming price caps and use of the blue EU channels at border points remain in place.

There will be no changes at ferry ports such as Dover, or airports. Existing reciprocal healthcare benefits remain in place.

Until December 31, taking a holiday or doing business should remain exactly the same as now.

What happens after the transition period, on December 31, 2020?

The next chapter in the Brexit psychodrama will be attempts to reach deals on future relationships by the end of the 11-month transition period.

source: Euronews

What is the United Kingdom?

Its proper name is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Geographically it consists of the entire island of Great Britain and a small bit of Ireland called Northern Ireland. Ireland (or Eire) is an entirely separate country. The UK is made up of four constituent parts: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. There are various other bits of the British Isles, but they aren’t part of the UK.

Does the UK have a Constitution?

Yes and no. It has a constitution, but it is largely unwritten. It’s more of an idea. There is not a single codified document that lays out Britons’ rights or their structure of government. UK government evolved based on precedent, tradition, and conflict. Many ‘rights’ that Americans hold dear are also codified rights in the UK – like Freedom of Speech (though the British interpret it differently have more restrictions). You’ll hear British political commentators talk about a man named Walter Bagehot (usually they’ll just say his last name – pronounced Badge-it), he wrote a book called the English Constitution that sets out the frameworks and ideas behind the unwritten constitution. The book explores the nature of the constitution of the United Kingdom, specifically the Parliament and its relationship to the monarchy.

Sovereign

At the top of the British political system is Her Majesty The Queen. She’s the head of state and the authority from which all power resides. The government in the UK is called Her Majesty’s Government, and it operates in her name. The Queen, in practice, has no actual power. It’s been stripped away during 500 years of parliamentary democracy. But she’s an important symbol of government. The Prime Minister also meets with her weekly in private to discuss issues facing the nation. The contents of these meetings are confidential. The Queen has a right to advise and to warn but not to act politically. She is apolitical. The Sovereign also formally dissolves Parliament and calls an election (after asked to do so by the PM).

Parliament

In the UK, Parliament is sovereign (Parliamentary sovereignty was an issue in the Brexit debate); there is no higher authority. Parliament is all branches of government – it is the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branch, all wrapped into one.

Houses of Parliament

There are two houses of Parliament, and they meet in the Palace of Westminster.

House of Commons

The House of Commons is the fully elected body and has full governmental power – it is more powerful than the House of Lords (it used to be the other way around but this changed slowly over hundreds of years and after a civil war). Members of the House of Commons are elected to represent 650 constituencies which have a population of roughly 70,000 people. The House of Commons is elected for a five-year term. However, the Prime Minister can now call an election anytime with the support of the majority of the house (which is why there was an early election now, the next one was supposed to be in 2020).

House of Lords

The House of Lords, or Upper House, is a hereditary and appointed body that is more focused on long-term governance and refining laws. It used to be the more powerful house, but now it’s more of a consultative body. It rarely stops legislation, and if it tried to, the House of Commons has the power to override it. Most of the hereditary Lords were abolished in 1999, but there are still 100 left. There is talk of abolishing the House of Lords all together and replacing it with an elected Senate.

The Government

The government consists of two parts, the party that has the most seats in the House of Commons and the actual machinery of government.

Political Government

The political party that is elected with the largest majority of MP’s forms the government. The UK has a first past the post voting system which means that the winner takes all. If any political party can command a majority in the House of Commons, it can form a government. This is where things get interesting. Sometimes the party with the most votes doesn’t win a majority, and then it has to govern in a coalition government (as in the 2010 election).

The leader of the largest party in the Commons is called the Prime Minister, and he or she is the de facto head of state – meaning they are the one that actually wields power. The Prime Minister forms a government of ministers – political appointees who are given power over specific areas and run various government departments.

Some key ministers:

Prime Minister – First Lord of the Treasury and the de facto head of state. The current Prime Minister was not technically ‘elected’ by the British people, Theresa May was selected by the Conservative Party as leader last year after David Cameron resigned.

Chancellor of the Exchequer – The person in charge of the treasury and puts together the yearly budget, second most powerful figure in government.

Foreign Secretary – The British equivalent to Secretary of State.

Civil Government

Outside of the political system, there is a vast government apparatus that operates for the British Government to function. Britain’s civil servants are apolitical servants of the crown whose job it is to enact government policy; whoever is in charge. The civil service does not like to draw attention to itself, but they’re the people responsible for the government working in Britain. The Head of the Civil service is the Cabinet Secretary, and he’s the highest ranking non-politician in government.

Local Government

The UK has a strong central government. Local government as a corollary is weak but becoming more important. Local elections are usually held on a different cycle than a general election, which is primarily concerned with national government. Most localities have a district or city council. They don’t have as much power as Parliament and only function in roles that have been clearly defined. They are most Britons’ direct contact with government, so often they are what people complain about the most. These are the organizations responsible for picking up the trash, road maintenance, etc.

Political Parties

When you vote in a British election, you’re not voting for a particular Prime Minister. You’re voting for the party you want to be in power and thus the leader of their party. The leader of the party who winds up with a majority in the House of Commons forms the government. The party in power until now was the Conservative party, led by Theresa May (the second woman to be Prime Minister in UK history).

The UK has three main political parties and several smaller ones.

Conservative Party – AKA The Tories – Right Wing

The Tories are the traditional right-wing conservative party in the UK. They’ve been around for hundreds of years. Their full name is the Conservative and Unionist Party. They’re very much like the Republicans in the USA in some regards, but actually, they’re nowhere near as conservative. Many people view the Tories negatively; they call them the ‘Nasty Party.’

Labour Party – AKA Labour – Left Wing

The Labour party is the traditional left wing party in the UK. They used to be more centrist under Tony Blair, but since then have moved much further to the left. The current leader is Jeremy Corbyn. They haven’t been in power since 2010. The ‘Opposition’ in the House of Commons is an official title, and the leader of the Opposition is accorded special respects, and he has his own ‘shadow cabinet’ of people who would be ready to take up the same positions in Government if they found themselves in power.

Liberal Democrats – AKA Lib Dems – Somewhere in the middle

The Liberal Democrats are a much harder party to define. The party’s reputation has been tarnished with their participation in the Coalition Government from 2010 to 2015, and it has yet to recover. They currently only have a handful of MPs, they used to have 70.

Minor Parties

Plaid Cymru – Party of Welsh Nationalists. They often align with Labour.

Scottish National Party – Party of Scottish Nationalists. They made headlines in 2015 by attempting to gain Scottish independence. They’re very left wing and would work with Labour, but it comes with strings attached (another independence referendum – which they’ve officially called for).

UKIP – The UK Independence Party. They’re hard to classify on the left/right scale, but essentially they’re against membership in the European Union and against almost all forms of Immigration into the UK.

Green Party – This very left wing party is the party for environmentalists. They only have one MP and a handful of council seats throughout the country.

Sinn Fein – Irish nationalists. Often elected from Northern Ireland but refuse to ever take their seats because they refuse to swear the loyalty oath to The Queen. They want Ireland to be unified into one country.

Democratic Unionist Party – Northern Irish Right wing conservatives who want to stay in the United Kingdom.

Election Process

UK elections are quick affairs, lasting just five weeks once they’re called. In the UK there is no campaigning before the election is called.

Once the election is called, Parliament is dissolved. This means there are no MP’s. Current government ministers maintain their posts – the UK is not without a government during this time, but this is when the Civil Service really takes over to ensure the smooth operation of government.

There is no TV advertising during an election campaign. No negative commercials. Nothing. There are party political broadcasts, and the major parties are all given allotted time to get their message out.

There is a cap on spending. It’s an election on a budget. Money does not play a huge role in the result of the election.

If a candidate wants to be an MP, they need to be selected by their local party organization. Candidates for MP have to place a £500 deposit to get on the ballot, if they do not get enough votes (5% of votes), they lose the deposit (which is considered an embarrassment).

Brexit

While an election has been called, Brexit is actually not much of an issue for the election (though it is behind the scenes). Article 50 has been invoked, Brexit is happening. The current party in power, the Conservatives, are fully for Brexit and have, in fact, started the Brexit process. The Labour Party’s platform is not to stop Brexit but to get the best deal for Britain from its withdrawal from the EU. The only competitive party that wants to actually stop Brexit are the Liberal Democrats but the likelihood of them winning power is very small. Brexit is a reality that cannot be stopped at this point.

Party Manifestos

In the weeks leading up to the election, each party publishes a manifesto. This manifesto essentially lays out everything they plan to do during their term in office. It’s considered a somewhat binding promise with the electorate that if you vote for this party, they plan to try and do these things. As always with politics, manifesto promises are routinely broken. But it gives the party in power a mandate, and you will often see that the UK Government will avoid big issues that it did not have a mandate for in its manifesto.

Election Day

Election Day is a sedate affair in the UK. It’s been held on a Thursday for every election since 1935. It has been suggested that this tradition arose as the best of several circumstances: Friday pay-packets would lead to more drunken voters on Fridays and weekends; having the election as far after a Sunday as possible would reduce the influence of Sunday sermons; many towns held markets on Thursdays, thus the local population would be travelling to town that day anyway. Polls open at 7:00 am and close at 10:00 pm. The media is not allowed to discuss issues, exits polls and individual candidate performance until after the polls have closed at 10:00 pm. The news during election day will often show footage of the party leaders voting, but that’s usually it. It’s almost as if the election is not happening. Polling places are in a variety of locations and sometimes in the oddest of places – like a fish and chips shop. Electioneering is not allowed.

Election Night

When polls close at 10:00 pm, the counting begins. Counting is done at a central location in each constituency. Counting is done by hand. Some places will count faster than others (and some even compete to complete the count soonest). Once all the ballots are counted, the ‘returning officer’ for the constituency will announce the winners, along with a count on how many votes each candidate received.

The BBC begins its election coverage at 10:00 pm sharp and often has early exit polling data to share. They talk and analyze the day until the first results start being called. The first few will probably have live coverage, but as each constituency result starts to flood in, they simply start filling in the electoral map. Within a few hours, it is pretty clear who’s going to win and when that point happens, the BBC declares who they think will win. Most results will be in by 3 or 4 am. Political junkies in the UK will stay up all night (and the TV presenters will stay on the air until the results are clear). The rest of the UK will wake up to the results in the morning.

If the current party in power wins the election, their leader will remain the Prime Minister. They usually go to Buckingham Palace as soon as possible to ask HM The Queen to be allowed to form a government. It all happens very quickly. If the current party loses power, then the current PM will go to Buckingham Palace and resign, and then the new PM will arrive shortly after that and ask to form a new government. MP’s will be sworn in a few days later.

source: anglotopia.net

The Cameron family has to leave Downing Street without the tabby who has lived in Downing Street since 2011. The Downing Street cat will be spared eviction from Number 10 when the Cameron family leave, it has been confirmed. Chief mouser Larry – a brown and white tabby entrusted with the rat-catching portfolio – will continue to reside in his famous abode when Theresa May moves in after becoming prime minister.

A Cabinet Office spokeswoman said: “It’s a civil servant’s cat and does not belong to the Camerons – he will be staying.”

Larry, who was rehomed from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home in 2011, was said to have a “strong predatory drive” that suggested he would be well suited to the task of rat catching.

David Cameron welcomed the cat’s arrival, and said he would make a “great addition” to the Number 10 team. Larry was the first cat to hold the appointment since stalwart ratter Humphrey was retired in 1997.

Humphrey was so popular that when Tony Blair moved in, officials were forced to organise a photocall to disprove rumours he had been put down by wife Cherie.

Humphrey was succeeded for a short period by Sybil, the pet of then chancellor Alistair Darling, in 2007, but the renowned mouser failed to settle, and returned to Scotland.

Larry previously had competition from George Osborne’s cat Freya, with the two spotted fighting on the pavement in Downing Street. 

The two learned to co-exist, but Freya was eventually exiled to the Kent countryside to live with a member of Mr Osborne’s staff in 2014.

An unofficial Twitter account set up under Larry’s name posted on Monday: “Does anyone know a good cat groomer available tomorrow? I need to make a good impression on someone on my first day with the new PM …”

It had earlier tweeted: “One final thing before they’ll let you have the job, TheresaMay2016 – tell the people you’ll keep me in Number 10.”

Can you find the words that fit these definitions?

1. a cat with a striped coat

2. strongly built, robust

3. to move forcefully from a building

4. to drive away, to separate somebody from their country or home

5. the office or post of a minister

6. a gossip, a story that is not surely true

7. to be perfectly fit

8. a place of residence, a home

9. to find a new home for

10. to live permanently

11. to notice, to observe

12. to be unsuccessful or unable

Key

1. tabby

2. stalwart

3. to evict

4. to exile

5. portfolio

6. rumour

7. to be well-suited

8. abode

9. to rehome

10. to reside

11. to spot

12. to fail

Leave won by 52% to 48% with England and Wales voting strongly for Brexit, while London, Scotland and Northern Ireland backed staying in the EU.

UKIP leader Nigel Farage hailed it as the UK’s “independence day” but the Remain camp called it a “catastrophe”.

The pound fell to its lowest level against the dollar since 1985 as the markets reacted to the results.

The referendum turnout was 71.8% – with more than 30 million people voting – the highest turnout at a UK election since 1992.

Wales and the majority of England outside London voted in large numbers for Brexit.

Labour’s Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the Bank of England may have to intervene to shore up the pound, which lost 3% within moments of the first result showing a strong result for Leave in Sunderland and fell as much as 6.5% against the euro.

‘Independence day’

UKIP leader Nigel Farage – who has campaigned for the past 20 years for Britain to leave the EU – told cheering supporters “this will be a victory for ordinary people, for decent people”.

Mr Farage – who predicted a Remain win at the start of the night afterpolls suggested that would happen – said Thursday 23 June would “go down in history as our independence day”.

He called on Prime Minister David Cameron, who called the referendum but campaigned passionately for a Remain vote, to quit “immediately”.

But pro-Leave Conservatives including Boris Johnson and Michael Gove have signed a letter to Mr Cameron urging him to stay on whatever the result.

Labour former Europe Minister Keith Vaz told the BBC the British people had voted with their “emotions” and rejected the advice of experts who had warned about the economic impact of leaving the EU.

He said the EU should call an emergency summit to deal with the aftermath of the vote, which he described as “catastrophic for our country, for the rest of Europe and for the rest of the world”.

Germany’s foreign minister Frank Walter Steinmeier described the referendum result as “a sad day for Europe and Great Britain”.

But Leave supporting Tory MP Liam Fox said voters had shown great “courage” by deciding to “change the course of history” for the UK and, he hoped, the rest of Europe.

And he called for a “period of calm, a period of reflection, to let it all sink in and to work through what the actual technicalities are,” insisting that Mr Cameron must stay on as PM.

Exit process

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said that the EU vote “makes clear that the people of Scotland see their future as part of the European Union” after all 32 local authority areas returned majorities for Remain.

London has voted to stay in the EU by around 60% to 40%.

However, no other region of England has voted in favour of remaining.

The referendum has underlined the social and cultural gap between London and provincial England.

Remain’s defeat seems to have been primarily the product of the decisions made by voters living north of the M4.

Throughout the Midlands and the North of England the level of support for Remain was well below what was required for it to win at least 50% of the vote across the UK as a whole.

Britain would be the first country to leave the EU since its formation – but a leave vote will not immediately mean Britain ceases to be a member of the 28-nation bloc.

That process could take a minimum of two years, with Leave campaigners suggesting during the referendum campaign that it should not be completed until 2020 – the date of the next scheduled general election.

The prime minister will have to decide when to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which would give the UK two years to negotiate its withdrawal.

Once Article 50 has been triggered a country cannot rejoin without the consent of all member states.

Mr Cameron has previously said he would trigger Article 50 as soon as possible after a leave vote but Boris Johnson and Michael Gove who led the campaign to get Britain out of the EU have said he should not rush into it.

But they also said they want to make immediate changes before the UK actually leaves the EU, such as curbing the power of EU judges and limiting the free movement of workers, potentially in breach the UK’s treaty obligations.

The government will also have to negotiate its future trading relationship with the EU and fix trade deals with non-EU countries.

In Whitehall and Westminster, there will now begin the massive task of unstitching the UK from more than 40 years of EU law, deciding which directives and regulations to keep, amend or ditch.

The Leave campaign argued during a bitter four-month referendum campaign that the only way Britain could “take back control” of its own affairs would be to leave the EU.

Leave dismissed warnings from economists and international bodies about the economic impact of Brexit as “scaremongering” by a self-serving elite.

And the latest news: Prime Minister David Cameron is to step down by October after the UK voted to leave the European Union.

Mr Cameron made the announcement in a statement outside Downing Street after the final result was announced.

He said he would attempt to “steady the ship” over the coming weeks and months.

source: BBC