5 Years After The U.K. Left The EU, The Full Impact Of Brexit Is Still Emerging

People and businesses are still wrestling with the economic, social and cultural aftershocks.

LONDON (AP) — Five years ago Friday, two crowds of people gathered near Britain’s Parliament — some with Union Jacks and cheers, others European Union flags and tears.

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.

For Brexit supporters, the U.K. was now a sovereign nation in charge of its own destiny. For opponents, it was an isolated and diminished country.

It was, inarguably, a divided nation that had taken a leap into the dark. Five years on, people and businesses are still wrestling with the economic, social and cultural aftershocks.

“The impact has been really quite profound,” said political scientist Anand Menon, who heads the think-tank U.K. in a Changing Europe. “It’s changed our economy.