Laura Kuenssberg
Political editor

Image source, PA Media

Even with a deal, changes are on the way that may not feel smooth.

But a sudden no-deal departure from the EU's rules could have been a disruptive at best, disastrous at worst, for some very concerned industries, adding to the country's difficulties during a pandemic that has caused so much pain.

The 2,000 or so pages of the deal (if you're stuck for Christmas reading, there'll be plenty to keep you busy!) have not yet been published, far less has there been time to comb through the actual detail.

In the coming days, without doubt, there will be a rhetorical bidding war over which side has given more ground, "lost" or "won".

There will have been compromises on both sides. But both the UK and the EU have put pragmatism over firm principle, and agreed an historic accord that will affect so many aspects of how we live.

Read the full analysis from Laura.

Dominic Casciani
Home Affairs Correspondent

Image source, EPA

Boris Johnson says he's "absolutely confident" the deal protects continued security and policing co-operation – which appears to be true, based on what has been released so far.

But the brutal truth is that the agreement downgrades what British police can achieve - and how quickly.

There’s an extradition agreement which avoids the nightmare scenario of suspects being held for months if not years as the courts wrangle over sending them for trial abroad.

And while the UK retains what is seemingly a considerable presence within Europol, the cross-border co-operative organised crime-fighting agency, it's no longer a "member" and will be unable to dictate its priorities.

The UK is still part of an ambitious plan linking DNA and fingerprint systems. But, as expected, the UK will have to unplug its connection to an enormous real-time database that shares alerts on wanted or missing people.

And while they'll have access to the EU's database on air travellers, it will be limited - meaning British police, like their US counterparts, won't be allowed to use all the tools.

And it's those nuances that are why the EU says the UK will no longer benefit from "privileged co-operation amongst police and judicial authorities".

In the view of the EU27, that is a consequence of Brexit - and the decision to depart the EU's rules.

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey says his party's "final position will be determined by studying the deal".

But he said it looks like it will be a "bad deal" - with "red tape" on businesses at the borders, along with form-filling, costs and delays.

Davey says if it is a "bad deal", then the Liberal Democrats will not support it.

He suggested the government could ask for a further extension to negotiate "a better deal". Parliament needs to scrutinise the deal more carefully before a decision is made, he said.

But on early analysis it looks a "poor deal for our economy", he said.

Image source, Reuters

Germany, which holds the presidency of the EU until the end of the month, has led reaction to the deal across the 27-member bloc. Chancellor Angela Merkel says she’s “happy” the deal clearly regulates the UK’s future relationship with the EU. The government in Berlin will be able to “quickly judge if Germany can support today’s outcome”, she says, as member states have been kept in touch throughout the Brexit talks.

French President Emmanuel Macron has written on Twitter, external that “European unity and firmness have paid off” and France will ensure the deal protects its citizens, fishermen and producers.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte says the deal is “excellent news” and the Netherlands will now study it carefully. Austria's chancellor tweeted his response in English.

Finnish Europe minister Tytti Tuppurainen points out the agreement is “damage control” as the UK’s new relationship lacked the benefits of the single market.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez welcomes the deal but points out the UK and Spain are still working on an agreement over UK territory Gibraltar.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte believes a “fair and balanced” deal has been reached that protects European citizens and businesses. And Sweden's Stefan Lofven has voiced his approval in English.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer confirms his party's position on the new post-Brexit trade deal - they will support it when it comes to the Commons.

Giving a short press conference, Sir Keir says it is a "thin agreement", and is "not the deal the government promised - far from it".

He also criticises the government for "leaving everything to the last minute".

But the Labour leader says: "At a moment of such national significance, it is not credible for Labour to be on the side lines.

"That is why I can say today that when this deal comes before Parliament, Labour will accept it and vote for it."

Sir Keir adds: "But let me be absolutely clear - and say directly to the government - up against no deal, we accept this deal, but the consequences of it are yours and yours alone.

"We will hold you to account for it."

Image source, Lucasfilm Ltd

If the taster from Lord Frost has whetted your appetite for a bit more Brexit reading, the new UK-EU agreement is around 1,500 pages long.

Our back-of-an-envelope calculations suggest it could take about 60 hours to read the whole thing in one sitting.

In that time you could also watch: Casablanca; the BBC's TV adaption of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; the Lord of the Rings trilogy; the Godfather trilogy; the Star Wars films and Kung Fu Panda (and still have plenty of time left over).

But it is up to you how you want to spend your Christmas - we're not here to judge.

There has been a fair bit of comment about the deal but we haven't actually seen the full text yet.

The UK's chief Brexit negotiator Lord David Frost says that will be coming soon.

In the meantime, he has tweeted this little teaser...

The House of Commons has confirmed that MPs will return to Parliament on 30 December.

Politicians will use the early restart to debate the law needed to put the new UK-EU trade deal in place, which needs to be approved before the end of the transition period on 31 December.

The House of Lords Speaker Lord Fowler says, like MPs, peers will also sit on 30 December to debate the Brexit deal. They will start at midday.

Reality Check

Many UK students attending European universities have done so through Erasmus - an EU scheme.

Chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier announced earlier that "the British government decided not to participate" in the programme.

What does that mean?

If you are already studying in the EU as an Erasmus student, you will be able to continue and finish your placement, even if it runs into 2021.

You will keep all the rights and benefits you currently have, until the end of your course.

But, as the UK will not participate in the EU programme from next year, students who were hoping to take advantage of it in the future will not be able to do so.

Boris Johnson has announced there will be a UK scheme for students to go around the world.

It will be called the Turing scheme, but there are no details yet.

If you were planning to independently head over to an EU university to study, you will have to make sure you meet all visa requirements if you travel there after 1 January.

You will be treated like any other non-EU students. This could mean higher tuition fees in some countries.

You should also think about whether you have enough healthcare and travel insurance.

Things will be very different for those who want to work or retire in the EU too.

Find out more by click here.

Rajdeep Sandhu
Political Correspondent, BBC Scotland's The Nine

The announcement of a Brexit trade deal has unsurprisingly not been welcomed by the first minister of Scotland.

Nicola Sturgeon said Brexit was happening “against Scotland’s will” referring to Scotland’s EU referendum result where 62% voted to remain part of the European Union. She said no deal could make up for what “Brexit takes away from us”.

She also said it was time for Scotland to “chart our own future as an independent European nation”. Since the announcement, calls for independence from the SNP have reverberated online.

There are also rows brewing about the end of the Erasmus programme and the exclusion of a valuable Scottish export, seed potatoes, to the EU under a parallel agreement.

But the leader of the Scottish Conservatives Douglas Ross said the deal was “great news” and would protect Scottish jobs. On the compromise over fishing he said it was better than the “hated common fisheries policy” adding it was time to move on from past divisions.

With recent polls showing support for independence rising somehow I think that Christmas wish is unlikely to be granted as we head towards a Scottish parliamentary election in May.

Image source, PA

The SNP's Westminster leader Ian Blackford described Brexit as "a disaster for us in Scotland".

"Brexit has already cost us jobs and there is no question this is going to be something that is detrimental.

"80% of our economy is service-based and there is no deal for services.

"Those who produce seed potatoes are going to be locked out of this trade deal - that will be devastating and is just a demonstration of the kind of challenges we will face.

"If we want to protect our identity the only way we can do that is by becoming an independent country."

Asked how his party would vote he says he will be talking to his colleagues over the coming days.

Chris Mason
Political Correspondent

A Brexit deal secured, political attention will soon turn to the next looming huge constitutional question.

Will Brexit, the idea, and Brexit, in its delivery, whet the appetite for further such radical change, or act as a gastric band on any such hunger?

I speak of Scotland - and its place in the United Kingdom.

Opinion poll after opinion poll suggest a majority of Scots now favour independence, the very thing they rejected back in 2014.

Since then, of course, there has been the EU referendum, where Scotland voted Remain, but the UK as a whole voted Leave.

If the Scottish National Party win the elections to the Scottish Parliament in May, on a mandate of having another independence referendum, the prime minister will face a conundrum.

Reject another referendum, as he can, and risk, from his point of view, rallying more Scots to the cause of independence.

Allow one, and risk the union no Conservative wants to see imperilled, shattered - the United Kingdom.

Brexit might be about to leave the building, but its consequences will live on.

Image source, Jess Hurd/reportdigital.co.uk

The TUC - which speaks on behalf of workers - has issued a warning to the Prime Minister that families must not suffer financially from Brexit.

The organisation's general secretary Frances O’Grady, who campaigned for the UK to stay in the EU, said “This deal is better than nothing, but not by much. It won’t protect jobs and puts hard-won workers’ rights on the line.

“As we come out of the pandemic, we’re facing a crunch point for jobs and living standards. This deal is on the prime minister’s head – it’s his responsibility to make sure working families don’t end up worse off."

Image source, Max Martin

Max Martin is a retired teacher from England who is now living in Portugal. Mr Martin's immediate reaction to today's announcements: "It was like slow-motion train crash".

He adds: "The rhetoric is all about us keeping our sovereignty over fishing. It's all political talk. I'm not even sure the conversation has moved on at all.

"For an oven-ready deal, it's taken quite some time to get here. It wasn't even that difficult. It could have been a lot easier. "

Mr Martin, who is married to a Portuguese woman, has been living overseas for over a decade. While he still has a lot of family in the UK, he thinks England has become very "anti-foreign". He is now in the process of applying for Portuguese citizenship.

Describing it as a "partial solution", he says by taking Portuguese nationality and voting and paying taxes in the country, while it won't help him personally in terms of his finances - it will give him some security.

"I will still have my rights and freedom guaranteed by people I trust far more than the UK government. I feel for my friends and family left behind and will take no pleasure in, 'I told you so'."

Image source, Sam Jordison

Sam Jordison runs an independent book publisher. Reacting to the announcement of a deal he told BBC News that the deal is “better than no deal” but adds that “having your foot chopped off is better than having your head chopped off”.

He said: “I’m worried about posting things to other shops; we sell a lot of books directly through our web store to the EU and I’m worried about how easy it will be to post things or import materials. I’m thinking now about how much it will cost; how and how quickly we’ll be able to do it because printers work on a just in time basis.

“I mean, how much paperwork will there be and what will we have to declare? I’m sighing just thinking about it. We just want to publish books we don’t want to deal with customs nonsense.

“I have friends who rely on medicines so I was pretty terrified of no deal. I suppose we’ll see in the coming weeks how that goes.

“I’m feeling a mixture of relief and ongoing frustration. Listening to the EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen I thought it was pretty sad. She was talking about how countries need to pull together and she’s right. Going it alone at a time like this feels like the wrong decision; especially with the pandemic it’s ridiculous.

“Brexit has real implications for me as a publisher. We like to be outward facing and we rely on goodwill and need to be seen as reliable partners to do business with. I think we’ve been tarnished by Brexit and a lot of that goodwill has been squandered. As a result I think it will be harder to approach new clients in the EU and across the world.

“Fishing is a tiny part of the economy compared to everything else affected by Brexit and I don’t think we even have the best deal on fishing. What have we gained from Brexit other than expense and bureaucracy?

“I think we’ll be paying for Brexit for many years to come.”

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage has taken to Twitter to celebrate what he calls a "victory" for "ordinary men and women".

He says the deal - which has yet to be made public - "is not perfect", but says it means "there is no going back".

Mr Farage's party chairman, Richard Tice, has also released a statement, saying the deal "must be checked in detail".

But, he adds: "It seems, at first glance, satisfactory in getting our freedom on security, defence and foreign policy, and, most importantly, free of the superiority of the European Court of Justice."

Mr Tice says: "Right now this is as good as we are going to get."

Image source, PA Media

Some sharp-eyed viewers have been remarking on Boris Johnson's tie which is covered with a fish pattern.

Fishing rights were particularly hotly contested during the talks and part of the reason why the deal took so long to thrash out.

The UK wanted its fleets to have a larger share of the catch from its own waters than under the present quota system. Currently, fishing makes up just 0.12% of the UK's economy.

Some on Twitter have praised Mr Johnson's tie choice, calling it "banter", while others have been more critical, saying it's "childish".

• Read more about why fishing was important in Brexit trade talks

Image source, EPA

Some of Boris Johnson's prime ministerial predecessors have been reacting to the news that a deal with the EU has been reached.

David Cameron who called the Brexit referendum, tweeted: "It's good to end a difficult year with some positive news. Trade deal is very welcome - and a vital step in building a new relationship with the EU as friends, neighbours and partners. Many congratulations to the UK negotiating team."

Theresa May, who resigned after failing to get a Brexit deal through Parliament, tweeted: "Very welcome news that the UK & EU have reached agreement on the terms of a deal - one that provides confidence to business and helps keep trade flowing. Looking forward to seeing the detail in the coming days."