From the Heritage Foundation, I'm Tim Desher, and this is Heritage Explains.

Five, four, three, two, one.

So there it is.

The UK has left the European Union.

47 years of history brought to an end in the name of sovereignty and independence.

Tonight we are leaving the European Union.

For many people this is an astonishing moment of hope,

a moment they thought would never come.

That's the Prime Minister of the UK Boris Johnson on the night of January 31st, when the United

Kingdom officially left the European Union. Three and a half years after millions of Brits voted to do so in 2016.

It was a tremendous representation and celebration of sovereignty and self-determination,

and many people throughout the UK agreed.

Very patriotic.

It's a real great feeling.

Do things feel different to you today?

Well, how they portrayed it to us two years ago

was that the whole island was going to sink if we came out.

That's the only way I can look at it.

You know, we're all gripping at 11 o'clock

last night thinking, well, we're here, but hey-ho, you know, up and away, let's move on and

let's get the job done. We are now a free and independent country once again. It's wonderful.

And of course, we can't move on without final parting words to the European Union from

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