Exactly five years ago, two crowds of people gathered near the British Parliament in London: some joyfully holding the British flag, while others were in tears with the flags of the European Union (EU).
On January 31, 2020, the United Kingdom officially left the EU after almost five decades of membership that brought free movement and free trade between the United Kingdom and 27 other European countries.
For Brexit supporters, Britain is a sovereign nation in charge of its own destiny. For opponents, it is an isolated and diminished country, the AP reported.
It was a divided nation taking a leap into the unknown. Five years later, people and businesses are still grappling with economic, social and cultural upheaval.
"The impact (of Brexit) has been quite profound indeed. It has changed our economy," said political scientist Anand Menon, who heads the UK in a Changing Europe think tank.
Menon added that British policy has also fundamentally changed.
"We have seen the new division around Brexit becoming part of electoral politics," Menon said.
The UK, with its strong sense of historical importance, has long been an awkward member of the EU, having held a referendum in June 2016 on whether to remain or leave the membership.
Decades of deindustrialization, followed by years of public spending cuts and high immigration, have created fertile ground for the argument that Brexit will allow the UK to "take back control" of its borders, laws and economy.
Still, the result, 52 percent for Brexit to 48 percent against, came as a shock to many. Neither the Conservative government, which campaigned to remain in the EU, nor the Brexit campaigners had planned the details of leaving the union.
The referendum was followed by years of wrangling over the terms of a final "divorce" between a wounded EU and a fractious Britain, which stalled Parliament and ultimately defeated Prime Minister Theresa May. She resigned in 2019 and was replaced by Boris Johnson, who promised to "get Brexit done."
However, it wasn't that simple.
The UK was left without an agreement on future economic relations with the EU, which accounted for half of British trade.
The political departure was followed by 11 months of difficult negotiations over the terms of the separation, culminating in an agreement before Christmas 2020.
According to a recent poll, 30 percent of Britons still believe that Brexit was a good thing, while a majority of 55 percent of respondents said they were in favor of returning to the Union.
A majority of Britons, 55 percent, support returning to the EU, including the 20 percent of voters who voted for Brexit in the referendum. Among them, 39 percent of respondents "strongly support returning to the EU," the JuGov poll said.
Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who himself voted for the UK to remain in the EU in 2016, has rejected the possibility of returning to the EU.
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