There was an uneasy calm in the United Kingdom on January 1, Day One after the country permanently cut its ties to the European Union, repudiating the promise of a united Europe and a single market born 62 years ago to uphold British exceptionalism.
British media reported none of the predicted chaos at key ports such as Dover, where thousands of goods trucks were stranded since December 21. Ferries reported a surprising dearth of passengers while airports again saw a return to the dismal lines of travelers now the norm under the COVID-19 regime.
The unexciting first day of Brexit was, however, predicted by some pundits and politicians. They warned the UK will suffer, but not immediately, after cutting ties that have bound it to the EU since Jan. 1, 1973.
Keir Starmer, leader of the main opposition Labour Party, assailed the "thin agreement" reached by the government of prime minister Boris Johnson with the EU. He asserts the eleventh hour Brexit trade deal clinched only on December 24 "does not provide adequate protection for British manufacturing, our financial services, creative industries, or workplace rights."
He earlier warned "there are serious questions about the government's preparedness for the new arrangements" that will follow Brexit.
Johnson's critics still insist the UK economy will suffer because of Brexit. They note, and rightly that many businesses are unprepared for the many future changes that will complicate doing business with the EU even as the UK reels from one of the worst COVID-19 pandemics in the world.
With the UK departing the single market and customs union, goods crossing the border with the continent will be subject to customs and other checks. Delays and disruption will be inevitable as truckers discover they lack the correct paperwork and face other problems.
The grim scenario foretold since the British people approved Brexit in 2016 includes thousands of trucks stuck in miles-long traffic jams leading to and from British ports, huge delays in food supplies, trade havoc, and an economy decelerating as business shrinks.
A foretaste of this chaos was experienced when France closed its borders with the UK to limit the spread of a new mutant strain of COVID-19 on Christmas week.
However, Johnson remains as sunny as ever and on New Year's Day boldly announced Britain would be an "open, generous, outward-looking, internationalist and free trading" country that is "free to do things differently, and if necessary better" than the EU.
"We have our freedom in our hands, and it is up to us to make the most of it," said Johnson just hours before the end of the transition period leading to the full Brexit.
The day before, Johnson told members of Parliament the trade deal would "open a new chapter" and allow the UK to take "control of our laws and our national destiny."
"This bill, it embodies our vision -- shared with our European neighbors -- of a new relationship between Britain and the EU as sovereign equals, joined by friendship, commerce, history, interests, and values while respecting one another's freedom of action and recognizing that we have nothing to fear if we sometimes choose to do things differently," he said.
The two sides agreed to a "zero tariff-zero quota deal" that will foster the trade of goods. It will bring relief to exporters on both sides that had been facing higher tariffs and costs had there not been a deal.
The EU has achieved its cherished "level playing field" where neither side can undercut the other with subsidies or similar restraints to trade. Johnson emphasized the U.K. and EU will act as "sovereign equals," and tariffs will be imposed if either side undercuts the other.
Johnson said the $905 billion (£668 billion) a year deal would "protect jobs across this country" and "enable UK goods to be sold without tariffs, without quotas in the EU market."
European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, said: "This was a long and winding road, but we have got a good deal to show for it."
She described the deal as "fair" and "balanced." She said now is the "time to turn the page and look to the future." The UK "remains a trusted partner," she pointed out.
Von der Leyen said she felt quiet satisfaction "and, frankly speaking, relief" to have reached a deal with the UK.
"I know this is a difficult day for some, and to our friends in the U.K. I want to say parting is such sweet sorrow," she said.
EU Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier agreed with von der Leyen, saying it was a day of relief but "tinged with some sadness."
