On Jan. 31, 2020 at 11 p.m. London time – midnight at EU headquarters in Brussels — the U.K. officially left the bloc after almost five decades of membership that had brought free movement and free trade between Britain and 27 other European countries.

Five years after Brexit, the European Union appears to be setting the agenda in trade talks with Britain. Britons, meanwhile, are divided over whether the political and economic separation has been

Representatives of the United Kingdom and the European Union look on as Britain and the European Union face a hearing at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the first post-Brexit trade dispute that has gone to arbitration over a ban on catching sandeels in British waters, in The Hague, Netherlands, January 28, 2025. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw

Britain left the European Union on January 31, 2020 (five years ago today) and while some are still happy with the decision, others want to rejoin.