Do you remember? Brexit Day is on 31 January 2020 in London.

Do you remember?  Brexit Day is on 31 January 2020 in London.

2020, 30 January. Check-in goes smoothly at Gare du Nord. Usually, it is in the health section that I work. Two weeks ago, I wrote my first article dedicated to this “mysterious pneumonia” from China, whose name will quickly become known to everyone and which will prevent me from writing about anything else for a long time. But here, it’s Brexit I’m going to cover 20 minutes, This morning, Paris is awake, and tomorrow evening, London will sleep outside the European Union.

waiting for the Brexit party

Like all journalists from all over the world for the same reasons, I will be in the Brexit party. But first, head to the French Institute in London, to examine the mood of the city’s French people. One of the threads of my visit to London will be to experience the program with expatriates who are inevitably worried about their future across the channel.

Friday 31st, I Woke Up: It’s Brexit Day! I go out to explore the capital with the strange feeling that tomorrow everything will be the same, but it will never be the same again. I walk atop an official building with the flag of the UK, England (no, it’s not the same) and the EU knowing the third won’t be floating in English skies any time soon. Brexit is making headlines on newsstands. And to feed the witnesses I’m quick to give my impression Live this historic day 20 minutes Transcribed minute by minute. First up on newsstands is Kirsten, who proudly shows me the anti-European badge hanging from her jacket. Then, in Parliament Square, where Brexit supporters and opponents gather, I meet Maxim, who had come to Lillee to campaign for Frexit, and Lucy, a 20-year-old Londoner who believes Brexit will steal her future. .

shared hangover

Because this 31 January in London, there are those celebrating the reclaimed sovereignty of the United Kingdom and others who will share the same hangover as before, but for other reasons, without alcohol. I make a detour to the town hall, where anxious Franco-Londonians have come to seek comfort and free legal advice, as Mary, a little lost in the steps she takes to secure her place on this side of the Channel.

The atmosphere changed in Parliament Square, where the party is in full swing. The Union Jack is floated everywhere, it is raised as a standard and appears in Technicolor over the outfits of Brexiteers, who come in thousands, cheering to take flight to Europe. At 11 p.m. (London time, midnight in Paris), it is official, the United Kingdom is no longer part of the European Union. London singles swings. I’ll be back in Paris in a few hours. Paris French, Paris always European.

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