‘Brexit day’ to be celebrated as PM urges confidence

Flags, new 50p pieces and a red, white and blue light show will mark the moment Britain leaves the European Union, it has been revealed.

Picture: 10 Downing Street/PA Wire

Boris Johnson said that Britain will become a “global, trail-blazing country” as he unveiled the government’s full plans to mark “Brexit day” this Friday. and said he “looked ahead with confidence” to the future when the UK formally leaves the bloc – nearly four years after the referendum.

However his optimism was tempered by Ireland’s minister for European affairs, who said negotiating a quick trade deal with the UK post-Brexit in the next ten months would be “difficult and challenging”.

Helen McEntee said: “My own personal view is that Brexit is really only at half-time, we have a huge amount of work still to do. The idea that we can negotiate a trade deal, one that is comprehensive, one that provides very little change for our citizens, not just in the UK and Ireland, but the EU as well, within about a 12-month space, it’s very difficult.

“We do know of course that Boris Johnson has said he does not want to have an extension, which means trying to negotiate a very difficult trade deal, essentially in 10 months. We know, looking at previous trade deals, how long they have taken, but we have said ‘we are willing, we are ready’.

“What we do need to make sure, that in all of the negotiations Ireland’s priorities are heard, that the other 26 member states’ priorities are heard and that there is a level playing field, that we have a balance of rights and obligations throughout all of this.”

To mark the UK’s departure on Friday, Mr Johnson is expected to deliver a special address while Downing Street will be illuminated with a light display designed to symbolise the strength and unity of the UK’s four nations.

Union flags will line Parliament Square and the Mall, government buildings on Whitehall will be lit up in red, white and blue throughout Friday evening and a countdown clock will be projected onto Number 10’s black bricks. The Prime Minister will also chair a meeting of his Cabinet in the north of England on Friday, while he and his ministers will spend this week meeting people and businesses across the UK. The new commemorative 50p coin to mark Britain’s departure will also enter circulation on Friday.

Mr Johnson said: “Friday marks an important moment in our history. No matter how you voted in 2016, it is the time to look ahead with confidence to the global, trail-blazing country we will become over the next decade and heal past divisions. That is what I will be doing on January 31 and I urge everyone across the UK to do the same.”

The government’s new “GREAT ‘Ready to Trade’” campaign will also launch in 17 cities across 13 countries outside the EU as the UK seeks to build trading relationships.