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Category: World Politics / Agreements and Treaties / Treaties and Alliances

UK files Article 50 letter to formally start Brexit

19:29 UTC+8 March 29, 2017

Donald Tusk receives Article 50, officially triggering Brexit. (Twitter: Donald Tusk)

Brexit has begun, with Britain formally filing Article 50, a letter to the European Union giving notice of the United Kingdom's intention to leave the EU.

The letter was delivered to EU Council President Donald Tusk by Tim Barrow, Britain's permanent representative to the EU.

Mr Tusk confirmed on Twitter he had received the notification letter, saying "After nine months the UK has delivered Brexit".

He also tweeted a photograph of himself receiving the small, business-style white document from Mr Barrow.

Earlier British Prime Minister Theresa May signed Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty, nine months after the June 2016 referendum that voted to leave the EU.

After the filing of the papers, Ms May told Parliament Britain was on a "momentous journey" and there was no going back.

"When I sit around the negotiating table in the months ahead, I will represent every person in the whole United Kingdom — young and old, rich and poor, city, town, country and all the villages and hamlets in between," she said.

"And yes, those EU nationals who have made this country their home.

"It is my fierce determination to get the right deal for every single person in this country."

Ms May — an initial opponent of Brexit who won the top job in the political turmoil that followed the referendum vote — will have two years to settle the terms of the divorce before it comes into effect in late March 2019.

More to come.

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