UK starts new journey after Brexit saga

Practical changes

As the first ferry left the British port of Dover early on Friday, truckers rolling into Calais of France had to deal for the first time with the new rules for transporting goods to and from mainland Europe.

The Road Haulage Association, an industry body, estimates that nearly 220 million new forms will now need to be filled in every year to allow trade to flow with EU countries, including permits to even drive on the roads leading to ports like Dover.

Ferry group Stena Line said on Friday that six freight loads bound for EU member Ireland were turned away at Holyhead port in north Wales for not having the correct paperwork.

Other practical changes include how long Britons can visit their holiday homes on the continent, to travel with pets, and an end to British involvement in an EU student program.

Holidaymakers and business travelers used to seamless EU travel could face delays, although fears Britons will have to get international permits to drive in Europe were averted by a separate accord.

British fishermen are disgruntled at a compromise in the free trade agreement to allow continued access for EU boats in British waters, which has raised fears of clashes at sea.

The key financial services sector also faces an anxious wait to learn on what basis it can keep dealing with Europe, after being largely omitted from the trade deal along with services in general, which account for 80 percent of Britain's economy.

In Northern Ireland, the border with Ireland will be closely watched to ensure movement is unrestricted－key to a 1998 peace deal that ended 30 years of violence.

And in pro-EU Scotland, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon gave a clear sign of a looming battle ahead for a new vote on independence.

"Scotland will be back soon, Europe. Keep the light on," she said on social media.

Despite the uncertainty, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is bullishly optimistic, writing in Friday's Daily Telegraph that Brexit presented "opportunities unknown to modern memory".

He said Britain had been given "a safe European home" since joining the then Common Market in 1973, but added that "the world has changed out of all recognition, and so has the UK. We need to keep pace with developments on the west coast of America and in the Pearl River delta. We need the Brexit-given chance to turbo-charge those sectors in which we excel."

The divisions over Brexit, both political and social, remain deep and are likely to last for years, despite a muted end to the saga overshadowed by the global health crisis.

Opinion polls indicate that most Britons want to move on and are far more worried about the worsening coronavirus pandemic, which has left more than 73,500 dead in Britain alone.

Johnson, who survived several days in intensive care with COVID-19 last April, warned of tough times ahead but said a UK-developed vaccine offered grounds for hope.

But his desire for a prosperous, more globally focused Britain could yet see a resurgence of Brexit wrangling, as the country finds out what its new trading terms mean in reality.

Agencies Via Xinhua