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The United Kingdom is no longer part of the European Union some 3-and-a-half years after the country voted to leave including 49,173 people living on the Isle of Wight.

In June 2016, the Isle of Wight firmly voted to leave the EU with 49,173 Islanders deciding to vote leave, against 30,207 votes to remain a leave vote of 61.95%. Since then, the Island has backed Conservative MP and Brexiteer Bob Seely not once, but twice in the General Election.

Earlier tonight the Prime Minister addressed the nation as Downing Street was lit up with a rememberable light show. He said that this is the dawn of a new era and that he will bring this country together and take us forward.

Throughout today Union Jacks have been flying in Parliament Square and across the country. In addition, a staggering 3 million brand new 50p Brexit coins entered circulation.

As Friday turns into Saturday nothing changes. However, over the next 11 months, the Government will be working to plan our the future relationship with the EU and agree trade deals with the world. The real changes will come in 2021.

Island Echo has been flying the Union Jack on the website header throughout the day to make this historic day.

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WE'RE OUT! UK LEAVES THE EUROPEAN UNION 3-AND-A-HALF YEARS AFTER REFERENDUM - Island Echo

Stoke fan Rob Evans arrived at the Metrobar Brexit party in Derby wearing a Boris Johnson mask, Amy Jones reports.

The 29-year-old, who works in sport, clutched a pint and a jagerbomb and repeatedly muttered "Brexit means Brexit".

"This is Boris' Britain. I'm actually delighted that it's done," he added.

His friend Rob Doe, also from Stoke-on-Trent, said he was "happy" Brexit was finally over the line.

The 37-year-old retail administrator said: "I actually voted Remain in 2016, but it's been going on for so long that I'm just happy it's over.

"It was a democratic decision. I think everyone should be pleased that it's finally sorted, it's time for us to move on. I think we should celebrate tonight, it's a historic occasion."

In the Derby bar the DJ played a selection of songs that gave a nod to the historic occasion. Brexit fans waved Union flags to Steps track Better Best Forgotten and Keane's Everybody's Changing.

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UK exits European Union with parties across the country - Telegraph.co.uk

Ahead of the UKs imminent departure from the European Union this week, arch Brexiteer Nigel Farage has revealed what he will miss about working in the European Parliament.

Speaking to LBC earlier today, Farage who has been a Member of European Parliament since 1999 said that he would particularly miss the social perks of being an MEP.

I will miss ironically Strasbourg, he said.

For those that havent been, it really is worth coming here and the wine tour in the Voges mountains. It really is worth visiting. Alsace is lovely. The food. I love regional food, seasonal food, all of thats wonderful.

Farage then attempted to justify his personal extravagance by saying it was payback for having to work 13 hours a day as an MEP. For the record, Farage has the 67th worst plenary attendance record out of 72 current British MEPs, and the 733rd worst record out of all MEPs.

The Brexit Party leader added, however, that he wouldnt miss Brussels, claiming the city is deteriorating in the most extraordinary way, and that hes been mugged three times in the area.

I wont miss Brussels one little bit, Farage said.

We doubt it will miss him, either.

We write news that exposes the deception of populism and the hypocrisy of the elites who peddle it. We run campaigns that allow us to work together to fight back.

We hate Brexit. We hate Boris. We hate the far-right. We want climate action, the end of austerity, and a pro-European future.

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Nigel Farage reveals what he will miss about the European Union - Scram News

While the UK parliament has passed the EU withdrawal agreement and argued over whether Big Ben bongs at the moment of Brexit, the European Union has been sharpening its position for the next phase of talks.

Over this month, more than 200 EU diplomats have taken part in 11 seminars totalling more than 35 hours. Led by the team of the chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, the seminars, which conclude on Wednesday with a meeting of EU ambassadors, are intended to keep the bloc together, before difficult talks on the post-Brexit future relationship.

The EUs opening offer has been confirmed: the UK will be given a zero-tariff, zero-quota free-trade deal, in exchange for signing up to core EU standards to protect the environment, workers and consumers rights, and avoiding unfair state subsidies. Known as the level playing field, these standards are like a slogan through a stick of rock for the EU.

For now, it remains undecided whether that means following the precise letter of EU law or the UK being allowed to adopt equivalent standards. One source said that depended on the level of risk and size of the sector.

If any British government broke these terms, it would face fines. The EU is also insisting on independent regulators to uphold the agreement in the UK, although the role of the European court of justice remains unclear.

Some British commentators have argued the EU is guilty of the charge often levelled at the UK: trying to pick out the best bits of the UK-EU trading relationship, without accepting the consequences of Brexit.

The EU counters that it has made the UK an exceptionally generous offer. The EU does not have a zero-tariff, zero-quota, traditional free-trade agreement with any country in the world, so wants corresponding guarantees in return. EU governments fear that if UK firms are allowed free entry to the EU market without following rules, for example on chemicals, industrial pollution or worker safety, British firms will have an unfair advantage.

Trade is only one aspect of the upcoming talks. The EU envisages one single agreement with the UK, with two core parts: one on economic relations, including trade, but also energy, fish and transport. The second part will cover security, including police co-operation, data-sharing and external security. Notably, the EU sees security co-operation underpinned by the UKs membership of the European court of human rights, a body that predates the EU that is also a bete noire for British Eurosceptics.

The entire deal will be underpinned by one dispute settlement mechanism, although it is not clear how far this includes a role for the EU court of justice.

Because the EU is acting in its own interest. Maintaining the status quo on fishing rights is a top priority for the EUs Atlantic and North Sea coastal states. Barniers plan to link negotiations on fishing quotas to trade talks has general support from EU member states, according to an internal document.

In contrast, the EU does not see financial services as being up for negotiation: it will decide on whether financial firms in the City of London, such as banks and insurance companies, will be granted EU market access (equivalence). Likewise, the EU will make a unilateral decision on whether the UKs data-protection standards are deemed good enough for information exchange, when it issues an adequacy decision.

The EUs policy on allowing workers from the UK will depend on the British governments new migration policy, but Brussels hopes to strike special provisions for students and researchers. Similarly, the UKs participation in EU programmes, such as research and the Erasmus student exchange programme, will depend on whether the UK intends to take advantage of existing rules allowing non-EU countries to take part, if they pay into the budget.

Nobody knows, but the deadline is extremely tight. Talks are expected to begin at the end of next month, after the EU agrees its negotiating objectives on 25 February. That leaves as little as eight months to strike an agreement, because the final text needs to be put to MEPs for ratification by October or November (a procedural deadline that remains fuzzy). The latest internal document from the EU states (in red type) there is a cliff edge in many areas on 31 December 2020, if the two sides fail to reach an agreement, meaning no return to the status quo.

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What has the EU been up to in the run-up to Brexit? - The Guardian

Hungary, Poland, Romania, Croatia and Greece are the five EU countries that do not reach the 50 per cent threshold in the 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index.

The report released by the NGO Transparency International analysed 180 countries, and when it comes to the EU, the misuse of its funds is still a big issue.

The perceptions index was based in answers from 12 independent institutions specialised in governance and business climate.

Europeans taking to the streets to protest corruption in Romania and the Czech Republic.

And a report from Transparency International confirms that most post-communist EU member-states are not addressing the problem effectively.

"There is a lot of fraud committed with EU funds; involving EU funds, but it has been very difficult to tackle this effectively and one of the reasons is that all member states take a different approach. By having a single European Public Prosecutor that will be addressing and tackling these issues, I think we can be confident that it will be easier to take on these cases," Michiel van Hulten, Director of Transparency International EU told our reporter.

Also western powerhouses France and the UK are among the four countries that lost at least three points on the index since last year.

There is some good news though - Spain improved by four points and Greece by three on the index, although Greece is still in the bottom half of the global ratings.

Transparency International focused this year's report on the risks of private entities financing political parties.

It lists Malta as a country to watch closely since it dropped six points since 2015, not to mention the murder of the anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia remaining unsolved.

One MEP from the European Parliament's Budget Control committee says the EU should intervene.

"If we have lobbies financing some political parties, the people elected will afterwards feel that they owe them something in return; and it is the beggining of corruption. So clearer rules about the financing of political parties," says Michle Rivasi of the French Green party.

The EU is trying to support whistle-blowers and to help fight corruption by adopting a directive that gives them more protection. But the move may still struggle to be effective.

"Whistle-blowers do play a key role and they do deserve protection. But there again, we know what the regulation should be. But there is the matter of translating that regulation into action, into practice in our member states. That passage from the theory to the practice is something that we are looking for," explains Gianluca Esposito, Executive Secretary of "Group of States against Corruption" (Council of Europe).

And it could be two years before the directive is effective.

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The Brief: corruption still a major issue in European Union - Euronews