Today marks the fifth anniversary of Brexit after the most successful Daily Express crusade in history.
The UK officially left the European Union on January 31 2020 following years of campaigning by this newspaper.
The Express became the first national paper to call for Britain to exit the bloc with a historic front page on November 25 2010.
It declared: “From this day forth our energies will be directed to furthering the cause of those who believe Britain is Better Off Out.”
The campaign secured a victory in 2013 when then-PM David Cameron promised a referendum on EU membership.
Britons went on to vote by 52% to 48% in favour of leaving the Brussels bloc in the 2016 referendum.
In one of his most famous speeches in the European Parliament days later, a rowdy Nigel Farage was jeered by MEPs as he said: “You all laughed at me. Well I have to say you’re not laughing now, are you?”
The referendum result led to the resignation of Mr Cameron, who backed the Remain campaign.
He was replaced by Theresa May who insisted that “Brexit means Brexit”, but her deal suffered a series of defeats.
Boris Johnson, the public face of the Vote Leave campaign, took over and won a landslide victory in the 2019 general election with a pledge to “get Brexit done”.
He finally secured an agreement with Brussels after years of tortuous negotiations and bids by Remainers to overturn the result, and Britain left the bloc at 11pm on this day five years ago.
