BREXIT - All You Need To Know

What is Brexit?

Brexit is short for "British exit" - and is the word people use to talk about the United Kingdom's decision to leave the EU (European Union).

What is the EU?

The EU is a political and economic union of 28 countries which trade with each other and allow citizens to move easily between the countries to live and work (click here if you want to see the full list).

The UK joined the EU, then known as the EEC (European Economic Community), in 1973.

Why is the UK leaving?

A public vote - called a referendum - was held on Thursday June 23,2016 when voters were asked just one question - whether the UK should leave or remain in the European Union.

The Leave side won (by nearly 52% to 48%) but the exit didn't happen straight away. It's due to take place on 29 March 2019.

What has happened so far?

The 2016 vote was just the start. Since then, negotiations have been taking place between the UK and the other EU countries.

The discussions have been mainly over the "divorce" deal, which sets out exactly how the UK leaves - not what will happen afterwards.

This deal is known as the withdrawal agreement.

What has been agreed?

The withdrawal agreement covers some of these key points:

• How much money the UK will have to pay the EU in order to break the partnership - that's about £39bn
• What will happen to UK citizens living elsewhere in the EU, and equally, what will happen to EU citizens living in the UK
• How to avoid the return of a physical border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland when it becomes the frontier between the UK and the EU

A length of time, called the transition period, has been agreed to allow the UK and EU to make a trade deal and to give businesses the time to adjust.

That means that if the withdrawal agreement gets the green light, there will be no huge changes between 29 March 2019 and 31 December 2020.

Another, much shorter, document has also been drawn up that gives an overview of what the UK and EU's future relationship will be in the longer term.

This is the political declaration. However, neither side has to stick exactly to what it says - it is a set of ambitions for the future talks.

What happens next?

Now that leaders of the other 27 EU countries have signed off the withdrawal agreement and political declaration, UK Prime Minister Theresa May needs to persuade MPs in her own Parliament to back it.

A vote on the deal will take place on Tuesday 15 January.

Will the deal get through the UK Parliament?

Well, at the moment it looks like it won't.

Many of the prime minister's own Conservative MPs, as well as the opposition parties, have said they can't back the withdrawal agreement.

The vote on it was meant to take place on 11 December, but Mrs May postponed it, admitting the deal didn't have enough support to pass.

The prime minister said she would try and ask the EU for changes before bringing the deal back to Parliament.

However, the delay sparked more criticism, and Mrs May faced a vote by Conservative MPs over whether she should continue to lead her party. She won by 200 votes to 117.

What happens if Parliament rejects the deal?

It's not very clear.

The default position would be for the UK to leave the EU without a deal, but the government will have up to three days to come up with alternative options to put to MPs.

Possibilities (explained here in more detail) include the prime minister being allowed to have a second go at getting her deal accepted by Parliament.

So will the UK definitely leave on 29 March 2019?

It is written into law that the UK will be leaving on that date at 11pm UK time.

But if there is no deal, or Parliament rejects the deal, it is impossible to say with any certainty what will happen next.

The deadline of 29 March could be extended - and the European Court of Justice has said the UK could even cancel Brexit altogether without the agreement of other nations.

What happens if the UK leaves without a deal?

"No deal" means the UK would have failed to agree a withdrawal agreement.

That would mean there would be no transition period after 29 March 2019, and EU laws would stop applying to the UK immediately (more on that here).

The government has started planning for this potential situation.

It has published a series of guides - which cover everything from pet passports to the impact on electricity supplies.

Timesline of events leading to the vote

Jan. 23, 2013: British Prime Minister David Cameron promises a referendum on Britain’s membership in the EU if the Conservative party is elected in the next general election. He does so to try to garner support among euro-skeptics within his own party.

May. 7, 2015: British voters elect a majority Conservative government. Cameron confirms in his victory speech that there will be an “in/out” referendum on European Union membership.

Feb. 20, 2016: Cameron announces that he has negotiated a deal with EU leaders which will give Britain “special status.” He confirms that he will campaign for Britain to remain in the 28-nation bloc. The referendum date is set for June.

Feb. 21: Cameron is struck with a severe blow when one of his closest Conservative allies, the media-savvy Boris Johnson, joins the Leave campaign.

June 16: One week before the referendum, Labour Party lawmaker and “remain” campaigner Jo Cox is killed by extremist Thomas Mair who shouted “Britain First” before shooting and stabbing her.

June 23: Britain votes 52 per cent to 48 per cent to leave the European Union.

June 24: Cameron says he will resign in light of the results because Britain needs “fresh leadership” to take the country in a new direction.

July 13: Following a Conservative Party leadership contest, Home Secretary Theresa May becomes prime minister.

Oct. 2: May says that Britain will begin the formal process of leaving the EU by the end of March 2017. In order to do this the British government would have to invoke Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty.

March 29, 2017: The British government formally triggers Article 50, setting in motion a plan for Britain to leave the EU on March 29, 2019.

June 8: A general election called by May to bolster her party’s numbers in Parliament to help with the Brexit negotiations backfires as her Conservative Party loses its majority and continues in a weakened state as a minority government.

July 7, 2018: May and her Cabinet endorse the so-called “Chequers Plan” worked out at a fractious session at the prime minister’s country retreat. It leads to the resignations of Brexit Secretary David Davis, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and others who favour a more complete break with EU.

November 25: EU leaders approve a withdrawal deal reached with Britain after months of difficult negotiations. May urges British Parliament to do the same.

December 10: May delays the planned Brexit vote in Parliament one day before it is to be held because it faces certain defeat. She seeks further concessions from the EU.

December 12: Conservative lawmakers who back a clean break from the EU trigger a no-confidence vote in May over her handling of Brexit. She wins by 200 votes to 117, making her safe from another such challenge for a year.

January 15, 2019: The delayed vote is scheduled to be held in Parliament with signs pointing to a likely government defeat.