HOW THE BREXIT SAGA UNFOLDED
HERE are some of the key moments:
January 23 2013 Under intense pressure from many of his own MPs and with the rise of UKIP, prime minister David Cameron promises an in-out referendum on EU membership if the Conservatives win the 2015 general election.
May 7 2015 The Tories unexpectedly make sweeping gains over Ed Miliband’s Labour Party and secure a majority in the Commons. Mr Cameron vows to deliver his manifesto pledge of a referendum.
June 23 2016 The UK votes to leave the EU in a shock result that sees 52% of the public support Brexit and Mr Cameron quickly resigns as prime minister.
July 13 2016 Theresa May takes over as prime minister. Despite having backed Remain, she promises to “rise to the challenge” of negotiating the UK’s exit.
November 10 2016 The High Court rules against the Government and says Parliament must hold a vote to trigger Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union, the mechanism that begins the exit from the EU. Mrs May says the ruling will not stop her from invoking the legislation by April 2017.
March 29 2017 Mrs May triggers Article 50. European Council president Donald Tusk says it is not a happy occasion, telling a Brussels press conference his message to the UK is: “We already miss you. Thank you and goodbye.”
April 18 2017 Mrs May announces a snap general election on June 8.
June 8 2017 There is humiliation for Mrs May as she loses her Commons majority after her election gamble backfires. She becomes head
of a minority Conservative administration propped up by the Democratic Unionist Party.
March 19 2018 The EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier says he and Brexit secretary David Davis
have taken a “decisive step” towards agreeing a joint legal text on the UK’s EU withdrawal but warns there are still issues relating to the Irish border.
July 6 2018 A crunch Cabinet meeting at Chequers agrees Mrs May’s new Brexit plans, including the creation of a new UK-EU free trade area for goods. But not all who attend are happy.
July 8 and July 9 2018 Mr Davis resigns from the Government in protest while the following day Boris Johnson quits as foreign secretary, claiming the plans mean “we are truly headed for the status of colony” of the EU.
November 14 2018 After a five-hour Cabinet meeting, Mrs May says the Cabinet has agreed the draft Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.
November 15 2018 Dominic Raab resigns as Brexit secretary, saying he “cannot in good conscience support the terms proposed for our deal with
the EU”. Other resignations follow.
November 25 2018 The 27 EU leaders endorse the Brexit deal.
January 15 2019 MPs reject Mrs May’s Brexit plans by an emphatic 432 to 202 iwhich throws the future of her administration and the nature of the UK’s EU withdrawal into doubt.
March 20 2019 Mrs May says she has written to Mr Tusk to request an extension to negotiations to June 30.
March 29 2019 MPs reject Mrs May’s Withdrawal Agreement for a third time – by 286 votes to 344 – on the day the UK was due to leave EU.
April 10 2019 The EU agrees a “flexible extension” until October 31.
May 23 2019 Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party comes out on top in the European elections, while the pro-EU Liberal Democrats also make gains.
May 24 2019 Mrs May announces she is standing down as Tory Party leader on June 7.
July 23 2019 Mr Johnson is
elected as leader of the Conservative Party and becomes the UK’s new Prime Minister.
August 20 2019 The new Prime Minister is rebuffed by European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker after demanding major changes to Irish border arrangements in a new Brexit deal.
August 28 2019 The Queen is dragged into the Brexit row as Mr Johnson requests the prorogation of Parliament from early September to mid-October.
September 4 2019 MPs vote to approve legislation aimed at preventing a no-deal Brexit. Mr Johnson orders a purge of rebel Tories who opposed him. The Prime Minister attempts to trigger an early general election but fails to get the required support.
September 24 2019 The Supreme Court rules that the PM’s advice to the Queen to suspend Parliament
until October 14 was unlawful.
October 2 2019 Mr Johnson puts forward his formal Brexit plan to the EU, revealing his blueprint to solve the Irish border issue.
October 10 2019 Mr Johnson and taoiseach Leo Varadkar say they can see a “pathway to a deal”, in a joint statement after key talks.
October 17 2019 After intense negotiations, the Prime Minister announces the UK has reached a “great deal” with the EU which “takes back control” and means that “the UK can come out of the EU as one
United Kingdom - England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, together”.
October 19 2019 In the first Saturday sitting of the Commons in 37 years, Mr Johnson seeks the support of MPs in a “meaningful vote” on his new deal but instead they back an amendment forcing him to seek a delay.
October 28 2019 EU leaders agree
to a second Brexit “flextension” until January 31 unless Parliament ratifies the deal sooner.
October 29 2019 Mr Johnson finally succeeds at the fourth attempt in winning Commons support for a general election on December 12.
December 12 2019 Having campaigned on a promise to “get Brexit done”, Mr Johnson secures a landslide win at the election with an 80-seat majority.
January 8 2020 New European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen visits No 10 to warn Mr Johnson the timetable for a postBrexit trade deal is “very, very tight”. The PM is clear however there will be no extension to the transition period, which expires at the end of 2020.
January 9 2020 Mr Johnson gets his Brexit deal through the
Commons as the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill is given
a third reading with a majority of 99.
January 31 2020 A clock projected on the walls of Downing Street counts down the UK’s departure from the EU at 11pm.
March 2 2020 Mr Barnier and Mr Johnson’s chief EU adviser Lord Frost open formal talks in Brussels on Britain’s future relationship with the bloc, including a free trade agreement.
March 12 2020 The two sides announce they are suspending face-to-face talks due to the coronavirus pandemic and will continue by video conferencing.
June 12 2020 Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove formally tells the EU the UK will not sign up to an extension to the transition period.
September 10 2020 The
European Commission threatens the UK with legal action after ministers announce plans for legislation enabling them to override provisions
in the Withdrawal Agreement relating to Northern Ireland in breach of international law.
October 16 2020 Mr Johnson says he is halting talks on a trade deal, accusing EU leaders meeting for a summit in Brussels of seeking to impose “unacceptable” demands.
November 7 2020 Mr Johnson and Mrs von der Leyen agree to “redouble” their efforts to get a deal while acknowledging that significant differences remain over fisheries and the so-called “level playing field” for state aid rules.
December 24 2020 Finally, a post-Brexit trade deal is secured by negotiators from the UK and the European Union. Mr Johnson said the UK had managed to “take back control” as promised in the 2016 referendum. Mrs von der Leyen said it was a fair and balanced deal, adding “it is time to leave Brexit behind”.