ED ALCOCK / M.Y.O.P FOR THE WORLD
storyIn Stoke-on-Trent, London, in the Eurostar …, we saw neither ostentatious celebration nor too visible sorrow Friday evening, as if we had to shorten the farewell ceremony.
It's a funny evening. The sound system works poorly, the drizzle seems to blur all faces and you can barely hear the speakers parading through the gallery. Curious people, even tourists, mingled with Brexit Party activists wrapped in British flags.
The atmosphere has long been soft. It was not until 10 p.m. in London that at least 10,000 people gathered in front of Westminster and that this celebration, wanted and organized by the fiercest opponents of the European Union (EU), looked a little more like a party .
Perhaps all those who are there, at the foot of the Churchill statue and a stone's throw from Parliament, would like this long-awaited moment to be more spectacular and exhilarating, to mark this great change better.
The founder of the Brexit Party, Nigel Farage, no doubt felt it. So he’s the one who says the words that this crowd is waiting for. "We are leaving the EU! We did it ! We will never go back! " This time, the arms are raised, the bodies come alive. "The people beat the establishment that wanted to scare them! This is a unique moment in the history of our great nation. " In his lime-green tweed coat with a velvet collar, Nigel Farage walks the entire gallery, displaying his broad smile on the giant screen. "We will work with EU countries, we will trade with them, but we will not take our orders anywhere but at home! "
Already, its audience forms like a choir which responds by singing "Rule Britannia, Britons never, never, never shall be slaves" ("Go, Britannia, the British will never, never, never be slaves"). Then, a countdown appears on the screen, half a minute before 11 p.m. (midnight in Brussels); the last thirty seconds from the UK to the EU. The crowd chants them one by one. "Two, one, zero! " Here it is, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are out. "Bye UE, Bye UE", the brexiters sing while drinking beer and prosecco. Nigel Farage wanted the bells from across the country to ring at 11 p.m. But in London, Big Ben is under construction and the famous carillon has been dismantled to be revised…
Shorten the farewell ceremony
Nothing has changed. Everything changed. The crowd dispersed in a few minutes, carrying their flags and God Save the Queen. Without lingering. Like this funny day when the country celebrated as a minimum this event, however historic. But can we really celebrate a divorce?
