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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Toby Helm in London and Jennifer Rankin in Brussels

‘I sense Brussels is ready to be bold and ambitious’: hope mixes with anger on Brexit’s fifth anniversary

People on the street halfway through the process of lowering the union jack among a row of flagpoles outside a building flying the flags of EU states
Officials lowering the UK flag outside the European Parliament on Brexit day in 2020. Photograph: Aris Oikonomou/AFP/Getty Images

Andrew Moss despairs, even now, when he thinks back to the end of January 2020. It was a painful, traumatic time for anyone building an export business in the UK.

On 30 January, the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a public health emergency of ­international concern. The ­following day, the UK finally exited the European Union.

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