Boris Johnson described the new year’s severing of ties with the EU as “an amazing moment” for Britain, but he faced warnings that Brexit could hasten the disintegration of his own country.
Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, intends to put Brexit at the centre of her campaign in May’s Holyrood elections, at which the Scottish National party will campaign for a second independence referendum.
Ms Sturgeon, who wants to lead an independent Scotland back into the EU, wrote on Twitter: “Scotland will be back soon, Europe. Keep the light on.” Scotland voted 62:38 to stay in the EU in the 2016 Brexit referendum.
The first minister claimed an independent Scotland would be “a bridge to aid understanding between the EU and UK”, as she kicked off a year that could have a profound impact on the future of the union.
Writing for Politico, she added: “We have been inside the European Union family of nations for nearly 50 years. We didn’t want to leave and we hope to join you again soon as an equal partner as we face the opportunities and challenges of the future together.”
Mr Johnson has vowed to block a second Scottish independence referendum — which would have to be approved by Westminster — arguing that the 55:45 vote in 2014 for Scotland to stay in the UK was meant to settle the issue for a generation.
The British prime minister’s claim that Brexit had put “freedom in our hands” and that the UK would be able to do things “differently and better” outside the EU is not widely shared in Scotland.
“This is an amazing moment for this country,” Mr Johnson said in his New Year’s message, released to coincide with the end of the Brexit transition period and the end of Britain’s 47-year legal and institutional ties to the EU.
The prime minister has downplayed the “non tariff barriers” to trade with the EU thrown up by Brexit — including an estimated £7bn in bureaucracy for business — and their potential impact on the integrity of the UK.
Aside from inflaming nationalist sentiments in Scotland, Brexit has also placed new obstacles to trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland; the region, which also voted against Brexit, remains part of the EU’s customs code.
The prime minister insists his trade deal with the EU — which has a tariff-free arrangement for goods at its heart — had been achieved while extricating Britain from the EU’s legal structures.
But Mr Johnson’s critics have long warned that such an agreement would inevitably lead to friction at the border, as companies faced a wave of new checks, controls and paperwork to trade across a previously open frontier.
Ministers fear there could be disruption at ports on Monday when business returns to normal after the festive break; freight on New Year’s Day was running at a fraction of normal levels and few problems were reported.
Emmanuel Macron, French president, said in his New Year’s message that Britain would remain “our friend and ally” but he said Brexit was “the child of European malaise and lots of lies and false promises”.
However, Iain Duncan Smith, former leader of the Conservative party, spoke of the joy of Eurosceptics that the Brexit saga had reached its conclusion. “I just wish I was 21 again,” he told the BBC. “My goodness what prospects lie ahead of us for young people now: to be out there buccaneering, trading, dominating the world again.”
Meanwhile, Mr Johnson hinted in an article for the Telegraph at the “state activism” he intends to pursue to rebuild the economy after the coronavirus crisis. Many Tories believe Brexit will allow the UK to be more versatile in deploying state aid to boost growth.
The prime minister said it was “thanks to government scientists” that Oxford university had partnered with AstraZeneca to develop its Covid vaccine and “thanks to government cash that the vaccine was developed”.
Britain left the European Union's Single Market and Customs Union when the Brexit transition period between the two sides ended at 11pm on New Year's Eve. It sealed the UK's full departure from the bloc, freeing the nation from Brussels' rules and regulations to become its own independent country. During months of negotiations with the EU on a post-Brexit trade deal, fisheries became a key focal point, with fishermen warning the Boris Johnson not to sell-out and betray the industry in terms of the access rights and catch quotas for EU vessels.
Mr Johnson has wasted no time following the end of the transition period to appease fishermen who had expressed fears over what the conceded to the EU in negotiations.
On Thursday - just hours before the UK's full departure from the EU - UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) confirmed EU and English vessels would not be able to take part in pulse fishing.
The Government department wrote: "With effect from 23:00 tonight, pulse trawling by EU and English vessels in UK waters will no longer be licensed."
David Jones, deputy chairman of the Conservative-led and Brexit-focused European Research Group (ERG), hailed the move from DEFRA.
The MP for Clwyd West wrote on Twitter: "Excellent that @DefraGovUK has banned pulse fishing in UK waters from 11:00 pm yesterday.
"A good example of the environmental, conservation and welfare improvements we can make after leaving the EU.
"Now let’s stop live animal exports."
Brexiteer and former MEP Martin Daubney hailed the quick move from Downing Street to ban pulse fishing and called on the Government to now "kick super trawlers out of our waters".
The deal reached in February 2019 enables the remaining 27 EU member states to ban or restrict the use of pulse fishing within their coastal waters.
The new framework agreed by the European Parliament and EU member states aim to simplify the existing set of 31 regulations on fishing gear and methods allowed within the EU waters, on the minimum size of fish to be caught, as well as on restricting fishing activities in certain areas or during certain periods.
The discussions took nine months to complete, predominantly because of the disputed use of electric currents in the water, which deadlocked the entire legislation as the European Parliament and European Council could not agree common ground on the issue.
The controversial practice of pulse fishing involves sending electric signals to scare fish away from the seabed before scooping them up into nets.
In 2006, a system of derogations enabled the practice of pulse trawling to continue after catches involving the process were banned eight years earlier in 1998.
Opponents of the fishing technique have warned it has negative effects on juveniles and eggs, and also damages marine wildlife.
Up to 100,000 revellers usually gather on the banks of the River Thames for London's New Year fireworks display - but this year, the streets were virtually deserted as most people obeyed the capital's Tier 4 lockdown rules.
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The fireworks display spanned the length of the Thames, with fireworks launched from the O2 Arena and Tower Bridge and a light display on The Shard.
Amid the fireworks, several images filled the sky - including the NHS logo encased in a love-heart, while a child's voice said "Thank you NHS heroes".
There was a special mention for Captain Sir Tom Moore, who raised £33m by walking in his back garden. The drones formed an outline of his figure, standing behind his walking frame, and giving a thumbs-up.
Viewers also saw the clenched-fist symbol of the Black Lives Matter movement, and a humorous reference to one of 2020's most familiar sights for people who have worked from home - the icon of a microphone, accompanied by the phrase "You're on mute".
In recent years, BBC One has broadcast a live concert from London either side of the midnight celebrations - but this year US pop star Alicia Keys provided the entertainment from Los Angeles, playing hits including Girl On Fire, Empire State Of Mind and If I Ain't Got You.
Music also heralded the New Year on BBC Two, with Jools Holland's annual Hootenanny marking its 29th year.
The show featured musical guests Michael Kiwanuka, Roisin Murphy, Rick Wakeman, Ruby Turner, Chris Difford, and Sir Tom Jones, who discussed his recent Covid-19 vaccination.
Other than BBC One's midnight show, Graham Norton had the most-watched programme of the night, with 5.2 million people tuning in to see the star chat to guests Jessica Chastain, Tom Hanks, Emily Blunt, Jamie Dornan and Nish Kumar.
That figure, like all the others, is based on "overnight ratings" so does not include viewers who will watch the show on catch-up services over the coming days. In recent years, New Year's Eve has overtaken Christmas Day as an occasion on which more viewers watch live television.
Brexit: Daily Express projects Union Jack onto Cliffs of Dover
Britain fully left the EU at 11pm on Thursday evening after a trade deal was agreed between the two sides on Christmas Eve. The 11-month Brexit transition period came to an end, freeing the UK from the EU's rules on the Single Market and Customs Union. But French President Mr Macron, a vocal critic of Brexit and of the UK's negotiating stance with the EU during talks, took one final swipe before Britain fully left the bloc.
He said in his New Year's address to France: “The United Kingdom remains our neighbour, but also our friend and ally.
“This choice to leave Europe, this Brexit, was the child of the European malaise and of many lies and false promises."
During his ninth televised address of the year, Mr Macron said the Brexit trade deal agreed with the UK was “defending our interests, our industries, our fishermen and our European unity".
The French President then stressed the necessity of building “a stronger, more autonomous, more united Europe, before adding: “Our destiny is first and foremost in Europe."
Brexit latest: Emmanuel Maccron has taken one last bitter swipe at the UK (Image: GETTY)
In his own New Year's Message to the UK, Boris Johnson said: "This is an amazing moment for this country.
"We have our freedom in our hands and it is up to us to make the most of it."
The Prime Minister insisted there would be no bonfire of regulations to build a "bargain basement Dickensian Britain", adding the country would remain the "quintessential European civilization".
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Brexit latest: The timeline of events that have led to the UK's departure from the EU (Image: EXPRESS)
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9.47am update: Boris Johnson 'proud' UK taking over presidency of G7
The Prime Minister has tweeted that hosting both the G7 summit and UN Climate Change Conference makes it a "hugely important year for Global Britain".
Mr Johnson wrote: "Proud that the UK is taking over the 2021 Presidency of the G7 today.
"Hosting both the G7 Summit and @COP26 will make this a hugely important year for Global Britain and I look forward to welcoming our friends and allies as we beat COVID and build back better from the pandemic."
Brexit remoaners have taken to social media to blast Lord David Frost for celebrating the UK's formal separation from the EU on Thursday evening.
Britain’s chief negotiator for Brexit took to Twitter to praise the country’s exit from the EU. Lord Frost wrote: “Britain has just become a fully independent country again - deciding our own affairs for ourselves.
“Thank you to everyone who worked with me & @BorisJohnson to get us here in the last 18 months.
“We have a great future before us. Now we can build a better country for us all.”
But Remainers erupted at the celebration on Thursday evening.
One social media user wrote: “We will watch and record your successes and failures and you will be left wanting.
“You have destroyed a great Union.
“I hope you really believe it's worth it.”
Brexit latest: Lord Frost came under attack from Remainers after posting this tweet (Image: @DavidGHFrost / Twitter)
9.15am update: Brexit is 'not something to celebrate', says Coveney
Ireland's Foreign Minister Simon Coveney told BBC Radio 4's Today: "For 48 years, the United Kingdom really has been a central part of the European Union.
"That is now firmly ending with the end of the transition period, post-Brexit.
"For all of us in Ireland, that is not something to celebrate."
9am update: Ireland warns change in trade arrangement with UK will cause severe disruption
Ireland's Foreign Minister Simon Coveney told BBC Radio 4's Today: "We're now going to see the 80 billion euro (£71.2 billion) worth of trade across the Irish Sea between Britain and Ireland disrupted by an awful lot more checks and declarations, and bureaucracy and paperwork, and cost and delay
"That is the inevitable consequence, unfortunately, even with a trade agreement which everybody, I think, is very relieved was signed on Christmas Eve."
8.31am update: First ferry arrives at Dublin Port under new trade rules
Irish Ferries' ship Ulysses docked at 5.55am with about a dozen trucks on board after travelling from Holyhead in Wales.
It was a straightforward journey for the ferry as the freight trailers cleared customs checks for the first time under the new rules following the end of the Brexit transition period.
New documentation and red tape will now be required between EU member states and Britain, with many warning this will cause severe delays at ports.
8.26am update: Nicola Sturgeon tells Europe to 'keep a light on' as Scotland will be 'back soon'
Scotland's First Minister posted the tweet shortly after the Brexit transition period formally ended at 11pm on December 31.
She tweeted a picture of the words Europe and Scotland attached by a loveheart, and wrote: "Scotland will be back soon, Europe. Keep the light on."
The image had previously been projected on to the side of the EU Commission building in Brussels.
Brexit latest: Nicola Sturgeon tweeted a picture saying Europe loves Scotland and vowed to return to the EU (Image: @NicolaSturgeon / Twitter)
George Galloway has accused SNP leader Nicole Sturgeon of "hypocritical opportunism" after she marked Britain's departure from the EU with a vow to return to the bloc with an independent Scotland.
The former Labour MP said Ms Sturgeon had once backed an EU referendum and claimed she would have dragged Scotland out of Europe with no deal had the country won its independence ballot in 2014.
He said: "Sturgeons faux Europeanism is hypocritical opportunism.
"She joined SNP when it fought for Brexit! She backed a referendum on the EU because they were robbing our fish!
"If she’d won in 2014 she would’ve dragged us out with No Deal! She’s a wee parish-pump nationalist, that’s all."
Mr Galloway's outburst came after Ms Sturgeon said Europe should "keep a light on" as Scotland will be "back soon".
The First Minister tweeted her message to Brussels just after the Brexit transition period formally ended at 11pm last night.
Ms Sturgeon reiterated the SNP's call for an independent Scotland to join the EU.
Tweeting a picture of the words Europe and Scotland attached by a love heart, she said: "Scotland will be back soon, Europe. Keep the light on."
8.03am update: First lorry passes through controls at Eurotunnel as UK leaves EU wingle market
The firs tlorry has passed through controls at the Eurotunnel as it headed for Europe.
Driver Slavi Ivanov Shumeykov smiled and waved at caermas as his HGV was processed by officials late on Thursday.
His Eddie Stobart vehicle passed through Eurotunnel controls in Folkestone, Kent just after 11pm.
Brexit latest: The first truck to arrive from Wales in the UK under new Irish Sea trading arrangements (Image: NIALL CARSON / PA)
7.47am update: Irish hauliers warn of 'mayhem' as UK formally leaves EU
The UK has left the EU, and becomes a third country for trade purposes and customs declarations.
New documentation and red tape will now be required between EU member states and Britain, with many warning this will cause severe delays at ports.
Eugene Drennan, President of the Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA), warned there would be "trouble and chaos" in the coming weeks as systems had not been tested.
He said: "The systems have not been tested, they have not been tried.
"There will be delays, for sure. The mayhem that's coming in Dublin Port is unbelievable.
"They've done nothing to alleviate it. They have a plan that is absolutely nonsensical, and the nature of it and how it is laid out and the structure of it, it is going to cause a lot of grief.
"There will be trouble and chaos."
7.40am update: 'We are finally out of the anti democratic supranational institution that is the EU'
Brexiteer and former Brexit Party MEP Ben Habib has tweeted: "This morning is much like any other new year’s dawn. Cold and overcast.
"Oh there is one difference. We are finally out of the anti democratic supranational institution that is the EU.
At 23:00 on December 31 Britain exited the EU’s Brexit transition period during which it had continued paying into the Brussels budget and implementing many EU laws. Instead the UK and EU will trade based on a new agreement approved by Boris Johnson and voted through Parliament on December 30.
However Ms Sturgeon, who has backed second referendums on both Scotland’s place in the UK and Britain’s EU membership, used the occasion to claim Scotland will reconnect with Brussels.
The SNP leader tweeted: “Scotland will be back soon, Europe. Keep the light on.”
She accompanied this with a photo showing the words “Europe” and “Scotland” being projected into an EU building in Brussels, with a heart placed where they intersect.
The post received 12,000 retweets, but some Twitter users were critical in the replies.
One commented: “You are aware just over one million Scottish voters voted for Brexit as well?”
Another added: “Scotland will always be in Europe.
“But we will not be back in the EU.
“Even if you do achieve Scexit, your own people say it will be approximately 19 years before we would be eligible to join.”
Leaders of eight London boroughs have written to the education secretary to ask him to reverse the decision to reopen primary schools in selected areas.
In the letter to Gavin Williamson, the leaders say they were "struggling to understand the rationale" behind a move that ignored the "interconnectedness of our city".
They pointed out that COVID-19 infection rates are higher in some boroughs told to reopen schools than in others where they will remain closed.
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Schools delay about 'rooting out coronavirus'
The leaders of the boroughs of Islington, Camden, Hackney, Lambeth, Lewisham, Greenwich, Haringey and Harrow signed the letter.
Schools in the City of London and Kingston will also reopen under current rules, but those in 22 other London boroughs will remain closed.
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Danny Thorpe, leader of Labour-controlled Greenwich, which was threatened with legal action by the government after issuing advice to schools to move to online learning for the last few days before Christmas, said: "In a case-by-case comparison, there appears to be no logic to how this list was brought together."
He highlighted that Kensington and Chelsea "has one of the lowest infection rates of the whole of the capital, yet their children and young people are being afforded the extra protection that apparently Royal Greenwich students don't need".
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Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said that primary school students being told to return next week was "nonsensical" and said he had written to the prime minister expressing his anger that local leaders were not consulted.
"This is not the way to run schools in our city or our country and it's another example of the chaotic and shambolic way that the government has dealt with this pandemic," he said.
Staff in boroughs where schools were reopening have expressed concern about their own safety.
Kevin Courtney, joint leader of the National Education Union, said: "Gavin Williamson must listen to the leaders of the community, he must listen to school staff and he must listen to the general public who are all telling him that it is not safe to reopen schools on Monday."
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders' union NAHT, added: "There is obviously a huge amount of concern over how it can be safe for schools in some Tier 4 areas to open while schools in other Tier 4 areas are being told to move to remote learning. In some instances this means different approaches for schools only a few roads away from each other."
According to COVID-19 rates compiled by PA news agency, Greenwich had 2,176 new cases recorded in the seven days to 26 December, Hackney and City of London had 2,217 and Islington had 1,499.
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London doctor: 'Situation is critical'
In comparison, Kensington and Chelsea, which has been told to shut primary schools, had 768 new cases in the same period.
On Thursday, the UK recorded 55,892 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours - the highest figure on record.
The number of deaths in the last 24 hours within 28 days of a positive test was 964, bringing the total number of deaths in the UK to 73,512.
More than a million people have now received their first coronavirus vaccine.
In a joint statement from Professor Chris Whitty and the chief medical officers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, they said the public would "understand" and "thank" them for the plan to give first jabs as a priority, whilst delaying the follow up vaccination for others.
The deployment of the newly approved Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine will begin on Monday, almost a month after the roll-out of the Pfizer/BioNtech jab.
But second doses will now take place within 12 weeks rather than 21 days as initially planned.
In response to criticism from GPs over the change, the joint statement said that while it was "difficult" to reschedule second inoculations, it was better to offer more people "substantial protection" with the first dose within two or three weeks, as the UK waits for more vaccine stocks.
