Article 50 one year on: Vote in our Brexit poll!
It has been a year since Article 50 signalled the UK's intention to leave the EU. But are you happy with the negotiations?
Thursday marks one year since Theresa May triggered Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the mechanism that allows Britain to leave the European Union.
To describe the last 12 months as tumultuous almost seems like an understatement, as the arguments over exactly how we depart the bloc have been every bit as heated as those in the referendum itself.
To mark the anniversary, the Express & Star is running an online poll to gauge readers feelings about the UK's approach to Brexit.
The poll, which finishes at midnight tomorrow, poses questions about the events of the 12 months since Article 50 was signed.
The poll has now closed
It was a year that saw the Prime Minister call a snap general election to strengthen her hand, which ended up having the opposite effect as her majority ebbed away.
It meant that when formal negotiations began in June, the Tories were a squabbling mess, with divisions over the Government's approach to Brexit never far from the surface.
This came to a head in December, when rebel Tory MPs led by Dominic Grieve, Nicky Morgan and Anna Soubry sided with Labour, forcing Mrs May to guarantee a vote on the final Brexit deal.
However, there was better news for the Government before the end of the year, when the EU agreed to move on to the second phase of negotiations after striking a deal on the Brexit 'divorce bill', Irish border and EU citizens' rights.
And further decisive steps were made last week, with agreements reached on dates for a transitional period, the status of EU citizens in the UK before and after Brexit day, and fishing policy.
Labour's approach to Brexit has been mired in a constant state of confusion.
The year since Article 50 was signed has seen senior MPs from the party express a range very different views on Labour's Brexit view.
Jeremy Corbyn, who has often given the impression that he cares little for the issue, attempted to clarify the party's position in a speech last month.
However, by saying he wants Britain to be part of a customs union – but not if the UK was not given a say on the rules – he only succeeded in causing more head scratching.
Where he was clear, is that Britain cannot stay in the single market, a move that infuriated the majority of his own Remainiac MPs.
The less said about the increasingly inept Lib Dems the better, particularly after their deluded leader Vince Cable managed to offend almost everyone by suggesting elderly Leave voters were racist.
Meanwhile UKIP – the party that did more than any other to give us Brexit less than two years ago – appears to be in the process of disappearing from view.
And bubbling below the surface there are calls for another referendum, a move which is supported by political has-beens including Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
Whichever way you voted back in June 2016, it is safe to say that at the time few would have predicted that departing the union would be such a lengthy and complex process.
We want to know whether readers are happy with the progress made in the negotiations with the EU, and how the Government has handled the talks.
Do you favour a so called 'hard' Brexit, whereby the UK cuts all ties with the bloc, or a departure that allows us to maintain links with the single market?
Would you support a second referendum on Brexit once we know more about the final deal to leave the EU?
We are also asking readers to get their crystal balls out and predict how Brexit will affect the UK economy after March 29, 2019.
The results will be posted on this website later this week.
