UK plans Brexit celebrations but warns businesses may suffer

LONDON (AP) — The British government has announced plans for special events on the night of January 31 when the country officially leaves the European Union but the country’s treasury chief has admitted that some United Kingdom business sectors will suffer as a result.

Sajid Javid told the Financial Times in an interview Saturday that Britain’s regulations will not be aligned with the EU in the future and that those changes may hurt some businesses.

Currently the EU is Britain’s largest trading partner.

“There will not be alignment, we will not be a rule-taker, we will not be in the single market and we will not be in the customs union — and we will do this by the end of the year,” he said, referring to a deadline at the end of 2020 for conclusion of what are expected to be contentious trade talks with the then-27 member EU.

Britain will officially leave the EU bloc on the night of January 31, even though it will keep following EU rules for an 11-month transition period. It will be the first nation ever to leave the bloc.

The British government plans to mark the occasion with a series of upbeat events.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to make a speech to the nation that night after holding a rare cabinet session in the north of England to emphasise his government’s plan to spread opportunity to that economically beleaguered region.

The government also plans to mark Brexit by projecting a clock onto the prime minister’s official residence at 10 Downing Street in London that will count down until 11:00 p.m., when the break takes place.

The entire government neighbourhood of Whitehall is to be illuminated for the occasion as part of a light show, with Union flags flown on all the poles in Parliament Square.

The government will also create a commemorative coin that will enter circulation that day.

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