United Kingdom Officially Leaves European Union Over Three Years After 2016 Brexit Referendum

After 47 years of membership, the United Kingdom on Friday (31 December) night officially left the European Union over three years after people of the country voted to do so in a referendum, BBC has reported.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson in a message to the people before Britain left the EU vowed to bring the country together and take it forward.

"For many people this is an astonishing moment of hope, a moment they thought would never come. And there are many of course who feel a sense of anxiety and loss,” PM Johnson Said.

"And then of course there is a third group - perhaps the biggest - who had started to worry that the whole political wrangle would never come to an end,” he said.

"I understand all those feelings and our job as the government - my job - is to bring this country together now and take us forward," the UK PM added.

He further added that “for all its strengths and for all its admirable qualities, the EU has evolved over 50 years in a direction that no longer suits this country".

"The most important thing to say tonight is that this is not an end but a beginning," he said, and "a moment of real national renewal and change".

Earlier in a June 2016 referendum, 51.9 per cent of British people voted to leave the EU, popularly known as Brexit, with 48.1 per cent voting to remain in the economic and political union.

Following the Brexit, the UK will now remain a member of the EU’s single market but only during a “transition period” until the end of 2020. If the UK government fails to reach a deal with the EU by the end of this year, then it will have to revert to World Trade Organization rules.