BBC Radio 4

More reflection on the UK's place in the world after Brexit.

The UK risks becoming "Canada with nukes", the former Conservative chancellor Ken Clarke has claimed.

He tells Radio 4's Any Questions that the UK's global influence would suffer outside the European Union and it would be "heavily dependent on the United States".

"We are Canada with nukes now in a world when we were one of the three largest players in one of the great world blocs," he says.

The veteran pro-European politician says the government was starting with a "blank sheet of paper" in terms of building its new relationship with the EU and quickly had to move beyond "slogans" such as global Britain.

"I personally believe we are mitigating the damage," he says. "We may not know for 10 years. Maybe looking back we will find that not much happened and we carried on regardless but we may find it was a fair old disaster."

It's a poignant moment, whichever side of the debate you were on.

Image source, AFP/ Getty Images

The pro-Brexit Leave Means Leave celebration rally is due to kick off soon.

The hundreds who have gathered outside the Houses of Parliament can expect to hear from Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage, Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin and radio presenter Julia Hartley-Brewer.

Image source, AFP

Sir Vince Cable, one of the most prominent pro-European politicians in the UK, suggests there could be a public “reckoning” if Brexit does not turn out to be a success.

The former Liberal Democrat leader tells the BBC the UK is likely to re-assess where it stands in relation to Europe although this is unlikely to happen for five to 10 years.

He concedes that leaving the EU will give the UK more freedom in certain areas, potentially making it easier for the government to bail out struggling businesses and stop hostile takeovers of UK firms.

He admits December’s election was “disastrous” for his party, a result he blames on a mixture of public antipathy for Labour and Jeremy Corbyn and the failure of pro-Remain parties to work together.

Vicki Young
Chief Political Correspondent

No one can be sure what Brexit really means.

When we leave tonight nothing will really change for a year.

What kind of future relationship does Boris Johnson really want with the EU?

He has said before he wants the UK to diverge from EU rules and regulations.

But of course that will mean some disruption to the British economy - including those seats in the North of England that voted for Brexit and Boris Johnson.

Mariam Issimdar
BBC News

The Mayor of London says he is “heartbroken“ to be leaving the EU.

More than a million citizens from Europe and live and work in the capital.

Sadiq Khan is holding an advice session at City Hall for people who want to find out more about how to get settled status to stay.

"I’m very sad. Our European neighbours are not people who we have to be worried about or suspicious of. They are our friends, EU citizens are Londoners," he said.

He warns the government that they should make this global city a priority in any future negotiations.

“If London does badly, the country suffers,” he said.

Sarah Bishop
BBC News

DJ Lauren Walters has a playlist of Big Ben's bongs and Rule Britannia for the stroke of 11:00 GMT, marking the UK's formal withdrawal from the EU.

"And then after that it's partying and celebrating Brexit."

Patrons at Sedgley Working Men's Club, in Dudley, will be joined on the dancefloor by former Brexit Party MEP Bill Etheridge - who even brought a cake to mark the celebrations.

"I'm excited," the former West Midlands representative said. "I think we're going to have a great future - free.

"We're going to be able to make our own rules, our own regulations - it's brilliant. There's a bright future ahead."

Image source, @BREMF

Remain supporters are holding a candlelit vigil on Hove seafront this evening.

Organiser Susie Courtault, of Brighton and Hove for Europe, said it was "a very sad day for all those of us who have been fighting for the last three years to stop the UK leaving the EU".

She added: "Brighton and Hove is an inclusive, tolerant and progressive city and we hereby commit to continuing to uphold the ideals and values of the European Union."

Image source, AFP

French President Emmanuel Macron has taken to Twitter to reiterate his feelings on Brexit, saying the relationship between France and the UK "will continue to be strong".

"Between France and the United Kingdom, it is a long history made of blood, freedom, courage and battles that we share. The French know what they owe the British people, we will not forget," he wrote.

He added that it was a "sad day" but also "a day that must lead us to proceed differently, to build a powerful, effective European Union."

In an earlier TV address, the French president called the UK's exit a "historic warning sign which must... be heard by all of Europe and make us reflect."

In St Albans - an area that voted to remain in the EU by more than 62% - one group are holding a party to say thank you to the EU, including an appropriately decorated cake.

BBC News Channel

Brexiteer Liam Fox says today is a "historic" day - but there were times when he wasn't sure whether Brexit would ever happen.

The Tory MP, who served in Theresa May's cabinet, says: “There were moments where I did wonder particularly with the antics of [Speaker] John Bercow and some of the others, whether it was going to be stolen from the British people."

“There were nervous times and I really worried about that because I wondered what the reaction of the British people would be if what they saw as the political class stopped them having what they had voted for in a referendum which the political class had given them in the first place," he tells the BBC.

“I think that would have been democratically very, very damaging."

The Union Jack has been removed from a line of member state flags inside the European Council building in Brussels ahead of the UK's departure.

Two officials took less than a minute to remove the flag from the entrance of the building.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, AFP

Image source, AFP

Image source, Henry Nicholls/Reuters

Image source, Isabel Infantes/AFP

Image source, Danny Lawson/PA

See more pictures from today here.

Katya Adler
Europe Editor

Of course this is a historic occasion for the UK but spare a thought for the EU.

We have been part of the European family for more than 45 years.

Tonight the block loses one of its biggest and most influential members.

So we’ve had big sighs, long goodbyes, expression of regret and sorrow from EU leaders all over the continent.

Today we heard from the president of the European Parliament who said there would always be a sense of brotherhood towards the UK, even after Brexit.

But don’t we know that rifts between family members can sometimes be some of the most deep.

What will happen after trade negotiations start between the EU and the UK?

We’ve already heard government ministers wondering why the EU wants to impose regulations on the UK to get a free trade agreement that it hasn’t asked for from Canada or Japan for example.

Well, you see, Canada and Japan don’t share the same intimate history and geography with the EU.

Canada and Japan can’t suddenly become an overnight competitor to the EU like the UK can.

So when EU leaders are now saying to us that after Brexit we will love you but we will do you no favours across the negotiating table - they mean it.