Four elected officials from Britain’s Brexit Party have quit and will back Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservatives.

The quartet have accused party leader Nigel Farage of putting Britain’s exit from the European Union at risk.

The four, who are among 29 Brexit Party members elected to the European Parliament, oppose Farage’s decision to field hundreds of candidates in the UK’s December 12 election.

The party is not running in 317 seats where the Conservatives are strong, to avoid splitting the pro-Brexit vote, but is fielding candidates in about 300 other constituencies.

One of the four, Annunziata Rees-Mogg, said at a news conference in London that leaving the party was not "an easy decision for any of us".

Farage’s party accused the quartet of being in cahoots with the Conservatives and noted that Rees-Mogg’s brother serves in Johnson’s government.

UK POOL

London - 5 December 2019

1. European Parliament Member Annunziata Rees-Mogg approaching lectern at news conference

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Annunziata Rees-Mogg, European Parliament Member leaving the Brexit Party:

"This has not been an easy decision for any of us, but I think it's fair to say we all feel it's one we had no choice but to make."

3. Cutaway of members leaving Brexit Party

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Annunziata Rees-Mogg, European Parliament Member leaving the Brexit Party:

"The results in May assured at the end of (former British Prime Minister Theresa) May. They confirmed to remainer could not win the Tory leadership and become prime minister. (British Prime Minister) Boris (Johnson) won and surprised everyone with his (Brexit) deal in October. It wasn't perfect, but it was not May's surrender treaty. The Brexit Party instantly wrote it off. We were told as MEP's (Members of European Parliament) that if there were an emergency vote held in the European Parliament, we would be whipped to vote against supporting Boris's deal. But Boris's deal, the Withdrawal Agreement, the political declaration, give the UK the ability to leave unilaterally and returns our own sovereignty."

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Lance Forman, European Parliament Member leaving the Brexit Party:

"We haven't even had discussions with the Conservative Party about what is happening today. The first they heard about it was the same time you (media) heard about it and we had issued a resignation letter to (Brexit Party leader) Nigel Farage first that we felt was the right thing to do. So, no, none of us have had any discussions whatsoever. On the second question, other MEP's will, you know, make their own decisions. You know, we have come to this decision independently. We've all arrived at the same destination. And, you know, we'll see what happens over the coming days. It could be that others, you know, feel sympathetic and decide that they want to follow us. We hope they do and we hope that many candidates around the country, standing for the Brexit Party, come to the same conclusion and wouldn't it be wonderful if even Nigel Farage realised that this was the best decision to get Brexit done."

6. European Parliament member Lucy Harris approaching lectern

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Lucy Harris, European Parliament Member leaving the Brexit Party:

"I am incredibly sad to leave many good Brexit Party people behind and resign the Brexit Party whip. Many of them are worthy candidates and incredibly accomplished people. Their PPC's (prospective parliamentary candidates) have shown some of the best of British who their instinct, perseverance and initiative which we much needed for the future. I can't say I haven't had a furious internal battle over not being able to help them more and to support their bravery in standing as candidates for the Brexit Party. But this election is unlike any other. A turning point in history and with an anti-Semitic Marxist at our doorsteps, quite literally, we have to channel our bravery in a very different direction."

8. Longworth approaching lectern

9. SOUNDBITE (English) John Longworth, European Parliament Member expelled from the Brexit Party:

"I sat on that campaign committee (2016 Brexit referendum campaign) with Boris Johnson. I sat in the bus with him going around the country campaigning for Brexit. I know that Boris Johnson leans very strongly towards the Brexit cause that he's committed to delivering it. His (Brexit) deal is not perfect. I would say that the Brexit deal that he's put forward at the moment equates a little bit better than 'Norway deal'. However, it has the potential to be a great deal and there's every possibility in the negotiations going forward, that that's what the outcome will be."

10. Wide of members at news conference

Angry exchanges took place in London between pro and anti Brexit protesters on Saturday, as the UK parliament postponed a decision on whether to back Prime Minister Boris Johnson's divorce deal and ordered the government to ask the European Union for more time..

"Traitors," yelled the Brexiteers, as those in favour of the UK remaining in the EU yelled back, "you're the traitors," while marching and carrying banners.

Many of pro-Brexit protesters also portrayed their support for US President Donald Trump, whose  immigration policy they believe the UK should emulate.

"I believe that Britain would be a lot more of a better place. I believe that the British people are the minority at the moment. We don't want that," said James Saunders, a pro-Brexit protester.

Others thought differently.

"What is the point in being that angry about somebody because of where they're from," said anti-Brexit protester Marcus Ballam who welcomed Saturday's postponement.

Lawmakers voted 322-306 to withhold their approval of the Brexit deal until legislation to implement it has been passed.

The vote sought to ensure that the UK cannot crash out of the EU without a divorce deal on the scheduled departure date.

Johnson, who struck the agreement with the EU earlier this week, said he was not "daunted or dismayed" by the result and would continue to do all he can to get Brexit done in less than two weeks.

London - 19 October 2019

1. Various of pro-Brexit protesters yelling UPSOUND "Traitors" at pro-Europe protesters

2. Wide of pro-Europe protester responding UPSOUND "You're the traitors"

3. Close of pro-Brexit protester yelling UPSOUND "Traitor"

4. Mid of police line separating two sides

5. Wide of pro-Brexit protester wearing 'No Deal' T-shirt

6. Various of pro-Europe protesters passing pro-Brexit protesters

7. Wide of pro-Brexit protester James Saunders holding banner reading "Trump, keep America great! 2020, For president of the United States"

8. SOUNDBITE (English) James Saunders, pro-Brexit protester:

"There's going to be a long drawn out process. You know, there could be an extension. I think that will cause further tensions on those people that voted."

9. Mid of pro-Brexit protesters

10. Wide of pro-Europe protesters marching

11. SOUNDBITE (English) James Saunders, pro-Brexit protester:

"With regarding immigration I think (US) President (Donald) Trump has done a considerable amount of work on the Mexican border, to stop immigration from happening. I believe that if Boris Johnson would follow his footsteps as well and stop the mass immigration from happening in the United Kingdom, I believe that Britain would be a lot more of a better place. I believe that the British people are the minority at the moment. We don't want that. We want the British people being the majority because we are British."

12. UPSOUND of pro-Brexit protester yelling: "You're standing up for Marxism and communism, and you don't even realize it."

13. Banner reading (English) "WTO Brexit"

14. Various of pro-Brexit protesters

15. SOUNDBITE (English) Marcus Ballam, anti-Brexit protester:

"You've got people who have not got the full facts of what's going on, who are hating people literally because of the colour of their skin and where they're from. They are arbitrary lines drawn in the sand. It's just nuts, it's like what is the point. What is the point in being that angry about somebody because of where they're from."

16. Various of pro-Brexit protesters chanting UPSOUND "We love you Boris" and "What do we want? Brexit! When do we want it? Now!"

17. SOUNDBITE (English) Marcus Ballam, anti-Brexit protester:

"(UK Prime Minister) Boris (Johnson)wants to push through things in a way that we can't have a say on it just to save his own face basically. He wants to be the guy who got us out before the deadline and it's not the way it works, because this is far too big to score political points in my opinion."

18. Various of pro-Europe protesters cheering as Letwin amendment to delay Brexit is passed

19. Various of pro-Brexit protesters

20. Wide of pro-Europe protesters opposing pro-Brexit protesters

Just days before the EU elections, Nigel Farage's new Brexit Party is drawing supporters in their thousands.

Many have deserted the main traditional -  Conservative and Labour - political parties because of what they see as a betrayal over Brexit.

Farage has tapped into a seam of anger and frustration.

The former leader of the pro Brexit party UKIP and an MEP launched his new party last month and says more than 100,000 people have paid 25 pounds (31.73 US dollars) to become registered supporters.

Farage is confident that his party will do well enough in Thursday's elections for him to have a say in the UK's future Brexit negotiations.

He wants to put a WTO Brexit firmly back on the table.

The five-yearly elections to the European Parliament, in which the U.K. holds 73 of the 751 seats, are generally a sleepy affair in Britain.

Only about a third of the electorate bothered to cast ballots in 2014.

But this time around it's a highly charged showdown between remainers and leavers.

Pro-EU voters are also eager to use Thursday's election to send a message about Brexit, though they have several parties to choose from.

The Liberal Democrats party is soaring due to its support for a second referendum.

It's leader Vince Cable says the public is responding to the party's" united and unambiguous" anti-Brexit message.

Change U.K. also supports a second referendum but has struggled to make a breakthrough.

With the remain vote likely to be split, Gina Miller, the transparency campaigner, has called for tactical voting to help defeat Farage.

She's launched Remain United, a website which identifies which pro-second referendum party is most popular in each area and therefore more likely to win the seat.  

Travers predicts the Brexit party may gain around 30 per cent of the vote - far short of the referendum result and he says all the votes for different remain supporting parties are likely to be added up.

Whatever happens in the EU elections, it's likely that the Brexit party is here to stay and will shake up Britain's political system.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Frimley - 19 May 2019

1. Supporters of Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage cheering

2. Farage on stage during a EU election rally while supporters chant his name

3. Supporters clapping

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Nigel Farage, Brexit Party leader:

"They are scared of us and they should be scared of us because we've got some good reasons. Some good reasons for people to go out and vote for the Brexit Party next Thursday. If we win next Thursday, and particularly if we could win big, we will put a WTO (World Trade Organisation) Brexit back on the table."

5. Brexit Party supporters clapping

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Nigel Farage, Brexit Party leader:

"We want democracy to be honoured. We want the referendum result, the promises made at the general election, and indeed when 500 MPs voted for Article 50. We want that to actually happen because there are millions of people out there asking a question: What kind of country are we, if we turn our back on a democratic result. And very clearly a Brexit Party win will make a second referendum virtually impossible."

7. People queueing up for the Brexit Party rally

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Mark Bowles, Brexit Party supporter:

"Well, it could be, certainly for the first time in my lifetime, it could be that the two major parties don't decide what's going to happen. No, that's never happened whilst I've been alive. And if that is to be the case, then that's democracy with a capital D."

9. Various of people walking up queue

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Breda Signorelli, Brexit Party supporter:

"I'm here because I feel passionate about being out of Europe, actually. I feel absolutely passionate about it. And I felt that Nigel (Farage) is the man to do the job."

11. Woman queueing up holding placard with Farage's image reading (English) "In Nigel we be-Leave"

ASSOCIATED PRESS

London - 20 May 2019

12. Tony Travers, political analyst at LSE, walking out of a building

13. SOUNDBITE (English) Tony Travers, political analyst at LSE:

"It's (European elections) turned into, because the UK didn't leave the EU, a sort of rerun of the referendum by proxy, with the Brexit Party emerging as a place to vote if you really want to leave the EU hard and soon, and the Liberal Democrats emerging as the only party with an absolute secure pro-Remain position likely to inherit many remain votes."

UK POOL

Chelmsford - 3 May 2019

14. Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable arriving to cheering Liberal Democrats supporters

15. SOUNDBITE (English) Vince Cable, Liberal Democrats leader:

"Every vote to the Liberal Democrats is a vote for stopping Brexit. Absolutely clear, unambiguous, honest. We expect to do well, we are clearly the dominant successful Remain party."

UK POOL

Bristol - 23 April 2019

16. Wide of TV crews and photographers taking pictures of Change UK - The Independent Group leaders and electoral candidates

17. Pan from interim leader Heidi Allen to party member Chuka Umumma

18. SOUNDBITE (English) Heidi Allen, Change UK interim leader:

"Because these elections are a chance to send the clearest possible message: we demand a 'People's Vote' and the right to remain, and campaign to remain, in the European Union."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

London - 16 May 2019

19. Various of Gina Miller, transparency activist and architect of the website Remain United, looking at her new website

20. SOUNDBITE (English) Gina Miller, transparency activist and architect of the website Remain United:

"My concerns are, in the absence of a Remain alliance among the political parties, that the vote will be split and because of that there will be a huge number of Brexit Party or Brexit supporting hardline MEPs who will be elected to represent us as a country at the table in the EU parliament, if we were to remain or if they take their seats. And this is something that we have to stop, because that hardline ideology is not the face of Britain, it is not who we are."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

London - 20 May 2019

21. LSE (London School of Economics) sign

22. SOUNDBITE (English) Tony Travers, political analyst at LSE:

"It looks like at the moment as if the Brexit Party is going to get the most votes, so in the 30s percent. But actually not 52 percent, which is what the referendum vote was back in 2016. So people are going to tally up the votes for all the Brexit/Leave parties and all the Remain/no Brexit parties."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Frimley - 19 May 2019

23. Various of Farage on stage and supporters chanting

Pro-Brexit supporters, mostly Unionists from Northern Ireland, gathered outside the main gates of Stormont, the Northern Ireland Assembly, to count down to the U.K.'s departure from the European Union at 11pm GMT on Friday.

As the clock struck the hour, loud cheers erupted from the 30 people gathered waving the Union Flag .

Among them Evan Johns, a Brexit Supporter, said, "we are very proud to be British and we want to be part of an independent nation. We love Europe but the European Union has turned into a situation where they are trying to dictate their laws to us here and I think the United Kingdom has realized that we would be better off not staying with the European Union but to be separate independent states."

Earlier in the day, two dozen anti-Brexit activists visited Stormont to meet with local politicians urging them to hold Westminster to account and fulfill it's commitments to the deal reached in October between the UK government and the European Union.

Northern Ireland became a focus point of the three-year-long Brexit negotiations over fears that the reinstatement of a hard border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland could reignite sectarian violence that plagued the island for three decades and killed thousands during 'The Troubles.'

"There is certainly no celebration among the people who are living on the border today. We are happy (that) certainly there is no hardening of the border at this time but we are fearful that may happen as the end of the year comes," said Declan Fearon the chair of an organization of border residents (BCAB.)

The Brexit deal agreed to by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson guarantees there will be no infrastructure along the border with the Republic and keeps the small UK territory, for all intents and purposes, attached to the EU for regulations and customs.

While this arrangement angers unionists, it also worries remainers who fear they may need to follow EU regulations without all of the benefits and without a say in Brussels.

"We are going to have no representation in Europe. It is vitally important. We have seen from the lobbying we have done, the persuasive effect we have had, that when you don't have MEPs representing you, particularly when you are looking for funds for border areas, that's going to be a big loss," sad Damian McGenity, also with BCAB, while standing with protestors in front of the parliament.

Belfast, Northern Ireland - 31 January 2020

++NIGHT SHOTS++

1. UPSOUND (English) Man counts down and shouts "Freedom"

2. People cheering and waving flags

3. People singing national anthem

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Evan Johns, Brexit Supporter:

"We are very proud to be British and we want to be part of an independent nation. We love Europe but the European Union has turned into a situation where they are trying to dictate their laws to us here and I think the United Kingdom has realized that we would be better off not staying with the European Union but to be separate independent states."

5. Various of man playing drum

6. People watching man play drum

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Alyson Johns:

"I think it's just a bit of a gut reaction how you voted and my gut instinct just felt that our future would be better out of it (the European Union)."

8. People standing with flags

9. Pull from tight of flag to wide of people at rally

++DAY SHOTS++

10. Various of men painting mural on peace wall in Belfast

11. Peace wall mural

12. Security spikes on top of peace wall

13. Unionist Mural of King William III

14. Anti Republican graffiti and Unionist Mural in background

15. Various of unionist displays

16. United Kingdom flag flown in Protestant neighborhood

17. Peace Wall separating Protestant and Catholic neighborhoods

18. Man walking near wall bordering Protestant neighborhood

19. Pull from tight of Republican mural to wide of memorial area

20. Republican mural

21. Republican memorial to dead during The Troubles in Northern Ireland

22. Republican mural

23. Various of Border Communities Against Brexit activists in front of Northern Ireland Stormont Parliament building

24. SOUNDBITE (English) Damian Mcgenity, Spokesman Border Communities Against Brexit:

"We are going to have no representation in Europe. It is vitally important. We have seen from the lobbying we have done, the persuasive effect we have had, that when you don't have MEPs representing you, particularly when you are looking for funds for border areas, that's going to be a big loss."

25. Pull from tight of Stormont to Border Communities Against Brexit activists

26. Border Communities Against Brexit signs

27. SOUNDBITE (English) Declan Fearon, Spokesman Border Communities Against Brexit:

"There is certainly no celebration among the people who are living on the border today. We are happy (that) certainly there is no hardening of the border at this time but we are fearful that may happen as the end of the year comes."

28. Border Communities Against Brexit activists

People living on the Irish border protested against the UK's withdrawal from the European Union (EU) on Friday warning that a hard deal Brexit was still a threat to those living between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Northern Ireland will withdraw from the EU along with the UK, but many protesting argue that the exit contravenes the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.

The protests came as the UK formally withdrew from the EU at 11pm GMT.

Northern Ireland became a focal point of the three-year-long Brexit negotiations over fears that the reinstatement of a hard border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland could reignite sectarian violence that plagued the island for three decades and killed thousands during 'The Troubles.'

"Tonight, whether we like it or not, we are being dragged out of the European Union against our will. Brexit, and no form of Brexit, has any support on the island of Ireland," said Damian McGenity from an organization of border residents.

The Brexit deal agreed to by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson guarantees there will be no infrastructure along the border with the Republic and keeps the small UK territory, for all intents and purposes, attached to the EU for regulations and customs.

Brexit has also reinvigorated the controversial debate over Irish unity which could see the island reunited if referendums are held in both parts of the island under the rules of the Good Friday Agreement.

Mostly Irish Republicans claim the only way for Northern Ireland to rejoin the EU is to unite with the south.

"There is only one way back to Europe: if there is Irish unity," said Andree Murphy, Ireland's Future group.

Newry, Northern Ireland - 31 January 2020

1. Wide of protesters at border with signs reading "No border in Ireland" and "South Armagh rejects Brexit"

2. Closeup on young protesters holding signs

3. Pull out from fire to wide of protesters holding signs

4. Tilt up on protesters with sign reading "The North Remembers The Vote 56%"

5. Protesters with sign reading "No Border in Ireland"

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Vox Pop, No Name given, Newry Resident working in Republic of Ireland:

"I'm a resident of Newry and I cross the border everyday and the fact that we are being dragged out of the European Union without our consent. We, and I specifically, voted to remain and it just doesn't matter: nobody is listening. So that's why we are here protesting."

7. Closeup on sign reading "Brexit: The fight goes on"

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Damian McGenity, Border Communities Against Brexit activist (shot starts on pan from crowd:

"Tonight, whether we like it or not, we are being dragged out of the European Union against our will. Brexit, and no form of Brexit, has any support on the island of Ireland. And this current deal, while we welcome that there won't be a hard border across this island, there are still many threats and challenges that remain. Because of our campaign, special measures ensure that there won't be border roads closed, that there won't be checks on the land border, and that those checks are where they should be, in the ports and the airports. Brexit, in any form, is bad for our citizens, our economy, and our peace process."

9. Wide of protests gathered on road at border

10. Closeup on sign "No border in Ireland"

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Andree Murphy, Ireland's Future group:

"If England can vote and pass an act in their English parliament to take us out of Europe against our will and despite the Good Friday Agreement, our peace agreement, they can do anything they like in the future. Our economic stability meant nothing to them, our peace agreement meant nothing to them, there is only one way that Irish citizens' rights can be assured, there is only one way back to Europe: if there is Irish unity, unified politically, culturally, economically, peacefully and with consent, and legally under the terms of that peace agreement."

12. Wide of crowd applauding

13. Man holding sign reading "Border Community Against Brexit"

Steve Bray or "Mr Stop Brexit" as he is widely known, is arguably Britain's most fervent European Union supporter.

Bray has been seen taking part in daily protests outside UK parliament and famous for shouting "Stop Brexit" through his megaphone.

Dressed in yellow and blue, the colours of the EU flag, Bray has protested outside Parliament for more than three years come rain or shine.  

He's heckled MPs, leave voters and interrupted live broadcasters.

Bray, originally from Wales, gave up his business as a coin collector and dealer, to champion his cause and has lived in an apartment with other activists that has been funded by crowd funding.

The day before Britain leaves the EU, Bray and his supporters organised a gathering outside Parliament to celebrate the decades the UK has spent in the EU.

Before heading out to Westminster, Bray spoke about his sadness about Britain leaving the EU.

"Mixed emotions really at the moment. Sadness, you know, grateful for the time we've had with the European Union. But our campaign has changed. It's not a question of if we rejoin the European Union. It's just a question of when," he said.

Then he defiantly wrapped the EU flag around him and put on his famous blue hat and headed off to parliament.

A few anti-Brexit supporters gathered in the rain.  

All were full of praise for Bray.

Britain's definitely leaving the EU on Friday but Bray's not giving up.  

He's vowed to continue holding the government to account and will take up his position every Wednesday to coincide with Prime Ministers' questions in Parliament.

ARCHIVE: London - 15 January 2019

++NIGHT SHOTS++

1. Various of Steve Bray, pro-EU supporter named "Mr Stop Brexit" protesting

ARCHIVE: London - 12 March 2019

++NIGHT SHOTS++

2. Bray yelling through makeshift megaphone

ARCHIVE: London - 23 July 2019

++DAY SHOTS++

3. Various of Bray at protest

London - 30 January 2020

4. Various of Bray sorting through anti-Brexit placards

5. Various of placards

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Steve Bray, pro-EU supporter named "Mr Stop Brexit":

"Mixed emotions really at the moment. Sadness, you know, grateful for the time we've had with the European Union. But our campaign has changed. It's not a question of if we rejoin the European Union. It's just a question of when. How many years will it be? Sadness, you know we've got our event over there today, party like there's tomorrow."

7. Banners, merchandise

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Steve Bray, pro-EU supporter named "Mr Stop Brexit":

"But I found my niche here at parliament in the summer of 2017 and it's been a rollercoaster. At first there was like 50-50 hatred, support, abuse, but each one drove me on to be there more. So it was a win-win for me and the remain movement here in Britain is the biggest pro-European movement anywhere in Europe."

9. Placards

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Steve Bray, pro-EU supporter named "Mr Stop Brexit":

"We will be successful. But people need to see what we've lost. I don't think people appreciated the full extent of the European Union, what it was about and where we actually fitted into that project. Originally, it was a peace project and we've had more peace in Europe for the last 70 years than we have in the previous 2000 put together. So it has worked."

11. Hat reading (English) "why Brexit"

12. SOUNDBITE (English) Steve Bray, pro-EU supporter named "Mr Stop Brexit":

"We're going to hold this government to account. So it's about accountability, showing their broken promises. Because, people that voted to leave, like I said, most deprived areas voted to leave, these people were given hope and something to believe in, but they were given lies."

13. Various of Bray stapling banners together, carrying them into sitting room

14. Various of Bray putting on EU themed gloves, flag and hat

15. Bray walking out of apartment

16. Various of Bray walking along street to Westminster

17. Bray setting down his placards

18. Tilt-down from Bray to placard reading (English) "Goodbye Worker's Rights."

19. Various of Bray walking, shouting through megaphone (English) "You are liars you are deceiving the nation."

20. Various of anti-Brexit supporters outside parliament holding placards reading (English) "Long Live EU" and "Better together"

21. SOUNDBITE (English) Sue Harding, anti-Brexit supporter:

"The thing about him, which is really irritating, he never sits down. He never takes a break and he even eats and drinks standing up all the time and no one can keep up with him, he's, you know, he's just the Duracell bunny."

22. Various of woman with a tin of EU cakes, handing a cake to Bray

23. SOUNDBITE (English) Duncan Hodgkins, anti-Brexit supporter:

"Well, I think he's  been very effective in keeping the remain light shining over the last two and a half years that he's been here. I think without this protest outside parliament, which he's started basically on his own, holding this parliament to account has become something that this protest has been well known for and now that we haven't got an effective opposition as such. The fact that he's still coming here on a Wednesday for parliamentary questions, for PMQs, just to remind Mr Johnson, our Prime Minister, that the whole country is not united."

24. Placard reading (English) "Better together."

25. Close-up of Bray

26. Tilt-down from British flags to Bray and supporters with EU flags

Brexit supporters have been celebrating after the UK Parliament on Friday gave preliminary approval to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit bill.

The bill clears the way for the UK to leave the European Union at the end of January.

The House of Commons voted 358-234 for the Withdrawal Agreement Bill.

The bill commits Britain to leaving the EU on January 31 and to concluding trade talks with the bloc by the end of 2020.

Trade experts and EU officials say striking a free trade deal within 11 months will be a struggle, but Johnson insists he won’t agree to any more delays.

The Brexit bill has been amended to bar ministers from agreeing to extend the transition period with the EU.

London - 20 December 2019

1. Various of Brexit supporters standing with placards and jumping for joy after the vote is passed

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Patricia Sharman, artist and Brexit supporter:

"It's the moment that we have longed for, it's the moment that we have had to wait a very long time for. It's the people's victory. Democracy reigns and I'm absolutely delighted and very emotional."

3. Sharman kissing other supporters of Brexit

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Eleanor Dobson, teacher and Brexit supporter:

"I'm just relieved that it is going to go through. I think between now and December 2020 when we finally leave completely is a time when we need to be careful because it is the transition period and we won't have representation in Europe, but I am very relieved that this deal has gone through because it was the only way we were going to get out. So I just want this to be over."

5. Brexit supporters standing with placards

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Stephen Morgan, project manager and Brexit supporter:

"Well providing everyone keeps their word and works hard towards it, I think this will be a great relief for so many people because this has gone on for so long. People are sick and tired of it now and they just want an end to everything. So we've had an end to the Withdrawal Agreement today, it has been passed. Get the trade deal done and then finally we can go back to our proper lives."

7. Various exteriors of parliament and people walking

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Peter Roberts, Remain supporter:

"I feel it will be very difficult. I don't think people have really thought it through, but that goes right back to the start. I think it is a terrible time for our country, a terrible time for our reputation, a terrible time, above all for our representative democracy, which has been traduced by the people who are supposed to defend it, that is our sovereign representatives. They've given in, they've acted as delegates, not representatives. There are banners here saying the 'People's Will' this, 'The People's Victory' that. No. We should have got rid of all that kind of thought in the 1930s. I'm really afraid."

9. Various of student Scott Magee, 20, student from Scotland and Remain supporter, looking out at river Thames

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Scott Magee, 20, student from Scotland and Remain supporter:

"Honestly, every other trade deal that has happened with the European Union - Canada, America, whatever - has taken 14 to 15 years to get a basic trade deal. And he (Boris Johnson) wants to achieve one within 11 months. And he's put it into law, if he can't get one, then we absolutely have to leave regardless, which means a guaranteed no-deal Brexit, which I think will be catastrophic and totally, totally disregards the 48-52 percent of Brexit - the 48 percent who wanted to stay in the European Union and he's going to take it into a hard Brexit. It's just madness, I think."

11. Various exteriors of parliament

In Hartlepool, a tough, proud port town whipped by bitter North Sea winds, people have long felt ignored by politicians in far-off London.

Not now, in Britain's Brexit-dominated early election.

Britain's political parties are battling to win Hartlepool and places like it: working-class former industrial towns whose voters could hold the key to the prime minister's 10 Downing Street office.

Once, it would have been no contest.

Hartlepool has elected lawmakers from the left-of-centre Labour Party for more than half a century.

But in 2016, almost 70% of voters here backed leaving the European Union.

More than three years later, the UK is still an EU member, and loyalty to Labour has been eroded by frustration.

Trawlers still land with holds full of fish, lobster and crab; but the number of boats has fallen, and fishermen rail against the quotas and red tape imposed by the EU's Common Fisheries Policy.

Fisherman Robert Corner, 74, says he will be voting for the Conservative Party on December 12.

"I am voting Conservative for the first time in my life this vote. I hope Boris (Johnson, UK Prime Minister) fetches us out of this friggen EU," he said.

Fellow fisherman Steve Horsley agrees and feels the Labour Party offers "nothing" to people like him.

"l've always been a Labour voter," said Diane Jordan, a hypnotherapist enjoying an evening of music and bingo at the Hartlepool Working Mans Club. "My parents were always Labour: my grandparents were always Labour. Hartlepool's always been Labour and now I'm not going to go Labour."

Jordan is now considering voting for the Conservative Party for the first time.

That's good news for Johnson, who pushed for the December 12 election, more than two years early, in hope of breaking Britain's parliamentary deadlock over Brexit.

If he gets a majority of the 650 House of Commons seats, he will be able to ratify his EU divorce deal – which he withdrew from Parliament last month after lawmakers demanded more time to scrutinize it – and take Britain out of the bloc as scheduled on January 31.

Tom O'Grady, a lecturer in political science at University College London, said the Conservatives need to win seats like Hartlepool to compensate for the likely loss of pro-EU areas in southern England and Scotland.

"They're going to have to gain seats in the north of England and the Midlands from Labour if they're going to win a big majority at this election," he said.

But the Conservatives' challenge is complicated by the insurgent Brexit Party, led by veteran eurosceptic Nigel Farage.

Farage rejects Johnson's deal with the EU because it would keep the UK bound to the bloc's rules until the end of 2020, and possibly longer.

He'd rather leave the EU without an agreement, which would free Britain to strike new trade deals around the world.

It would also, according to most economists, leave the country poorer, by imposing barriers to business with the EU, Britain's biggest trading partner.

Supporters of a "hard Brexit" like Farage dismiss such claims, and accuse both Conservatives and Labour of watering down and delaying Brexit.

Hartlepool, where the Brexit Party controls the town council, is the party's top target in the election.

Richard Tice, the Brexit Party chairman and its candidate for Hartlepool hopes to win over former Labour voters who support Brexit.

"I am telling voters in Hartlepool they have been let down and betrayed by the Labour Party - that is betraying them on Brexit and has had a MP in this constituency for over 60 years and actually they have let down the voters here. I am going to pledge I am going to get a proper Brexit done. I am going to bring money and jobs into Hartlepool."

Mike Hill, who has been Hartlepool's Labour lawmaker since 2017 and is running for re-election, says he's not worried.  

Labour's complex stance on Brexit – it wants to renegotiate the divorce deal, then hold a new referendum on whether to leave the EU or remain – has angered some supporters.

But the party hopes its focus on social issues such as crime, health care and welfare – all affected by a decade of Conservative public-spending cuts – matters more to voters than Brexit.

He predicted locals might not warm to Tice, a wealthy property developer from the south of England.

"The Brexit Party seem to think they can come here with some southern billionaire candidate and just waltz into the place. Well, the people of Hartlepool are not fools," Hill said. "They can see right through that."

++CLIENTS PLEASE NOTE: WE ARE REPLAYING THIS STORY, WHICH RAN ON 13 NOVEMBER 2019, AS PART OF OUR UNITED KINGDOM ELECTION COVERAGE++

ARCHIVE: Hartlepool - 11 November 2019

1. Various of colourful houses on the Hartlepool shoreline

2. Various of lighthouse

3. Close up of Hartlepool Borough Council sign

4. Various of fishermen offloading crabs from a fishing trawler

5. Fisherman Steve Horsley working on a fishing net

6. Horsley and fisherman Robert Corner working on a fishing net

7. Corner holding fishing net

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Robert Corner, fisherman:

"My father, my mother, everybody voted Labour (UK opposition party). Now I voted UKIP (UK Independence Party) for the last...twice (last two elections) and I am voting Conservative (UK ruling party) for the first time in my life this vote. I hope Boris (Johnson, UK Prime Minister) fetches us out of this friggen EU."

9. Tilt up of Horsley working on a fishing net

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Steve Horsley, fisherman:

"Well (Brexit Party leader, Nigel) Farage started it off and the he walked away from it didn't he? You know I mean what was that about? And (Labour Party leader, Jeremy) Corbyn he has nothing at all for the likes of us people I don't think. Nothing at all."

11. Wide of Hartlepool Working Mans Club

12. Close of Hartlepool Working Mans Club sign

ARCHIVE: Hartlepool - 10 November 2019

13. Various of people in Hartlepool Working Mans Club

14. SOUNDBITE (English) Diana Jordan, hypnotherapist:

"I have always been classed as a Labour voter because my parents were always Labour, my grandparents were always Labour, Hartlepool has always been Labour and now I am not going to go Labour."

15. Various of lorry driver Clive Jordan at Hartlepool Working Mans Club

16. SOUNDBITE (English) Clive Jordan, lorry driver:

"I voted Labour all my life, but because of the way certain people are in Labour I have gone off of them now. I am not voting Labour no more. They've literally just blew it with me now."

ARCHIVE: London - 12 November 2019

17. Various of Tom O'Grady, lecturer in quantitative political science at UCL (University College London)

18. SOUNDBITE (English) Tom O'Grady, lecturer in quantitative political science at UCL:

"Seats like Hartlepool are seats where, if the Conservatives are going to win a big majority, they have to win seats like that. Hartlepool, about the 110th seat on the Conservatives' list of gains, but because the Conservatives are going to probably lose seats in Scotland to the Scottish National Party and lose seats in the south of England to the Liberal Democrats, they're going to have to gain seats in the north of England and the Midlands from Labour if they're going to win a big majority at this election."

ARCHIVE: Hartlepool - 11 November 2019

19. Various of a decommissioned oil rig at Hartlepool ship recycling facility

20. Wide of Brexit Party banner in Hartlepool town centre

21. Richard Tice, Brexit Party chairman and candidate for Hartlepool, talking to media

22. SOUNDBITE (English) Richard Tice, Brexit Party candidate for Hartlepool:

"I am telling voters in Hartlepool they have been let down and betrayed by the Labour Party - that is betraying them on Brexit and has had a MP in this constituency for over 60 years and actually they have let down the voters here. I am going to pledge I am going to get a proper Brexit done. I am going to bring money and jobs into Hartlepool."

23. Wide of Labour Party campaigners including Hartlepool MP Mike Hill (red jacket) meeting in a parking lot

24. Close of Labour Party rosette on Hill's jacket

25. SOUNDBITE (English) Mike Hill, Labour Party MP in Hartlepool:

"The Brexit Party seem to think they come here with some southern billionaire candidate (Tice) and just waltz in the place. Well, the people of Hartlepool are not fools. They can see right through that and they'll consider somebody thinking that they can parachute into this constituency as bit of an insult to be absolutely honest, because the town deserves better."

26. Various of Hill handing out Labour Party pamphlets

27. Close of Labour Party pamphlet comparing the Conservatives and Brexit Party with Labour

UK Brexit Party leader launched its policy pledges on Friday, which it called a "contract with the people" as it attempted to woo voters with its domestic policies.

The party, which wants Britain to make a sharp break with the European Union, says it also is calling for a political revolution in the UK.

Its policies include a written constitution, abolition of Parliament’s unelected House of Lords, more public referendums and a cut in immigration to below 50,000 people a year, less than a quarter the current rate.

The party, founded earlier this year, currently has no seats in Parliament.

It is running in almost 300 seats, but it has withdrawn from 317 Conservative-dominated constituencies to avoid splitting the pro-Brexit vote.

Farage urged voters to give his party lawmakers in Parliament so they could pressure the government for a hard Brexit, in which Britain wouldn’t remain aligned to EU rules and standards.

"We need the Brexit Party voice there in the House of Commons or we're not going to get anything like what we voted for three-and-a-half years ago,” he said.

Farage told the crowd that Labour had "absolutely betrayed" its Leave-backing supporters.

"For us, it's perfectly clear there are five million Labour Leave voters who have been absolutely betrayed by the Labour Party," he said.

On immigration, he said the UK was facing a "population crisis."

"We think a strong message that says if you come here illegally across the Channel or in the back of a container that you wouldn't be allowed to stay will prevent further human tragedy, and it's the right thing to do."

UK POOL

Westminster, London - 22 November 2019

1. Pan from media to UK Brexit Party leader, Nigel Farage

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Nigel Farage, UK Brexit Party leader:

"This is not a manifesto. Because a word association test with manifesto gave us the word, lie. And is that any surprise given just how many broken promises we've seen in British politics in the last few general elections. No, manifestos are a means of telling people what they want to hear, without ever having the genuine desire to implement them. So it (Brexit Party document) is a contract with the people."

3. Cutaway

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Nigel Farage, UK Brexit Party leader:

"Be in no doubt, we want a clean break from the political institutions of the EU, and you can get that with a Canada-style trade deal, just as you can get it leaving on WTO terms. I have to say that we will be looking at the Conservative manifesto when it's launched on Sunday and reading the words in it very carefully indeed."

5. Cutaway

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Nigel Farage, UK Brexit Party leader:

"And for us its perfectly clear, that there are five million Labour Leave voters who have been absolutely betrayed by the Labour Party. After three-and-a-half years of failure from a Conservative government, I have to say that when I saw (UK Prime Minister) Boris Johnson's so-called deal I was less than impressed, it simply was not Brexit."

7. Media

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Nigel Farage, UK Brexit Party leader:

"We need the Brexit Party to hold Boris Johnson to his word. We need the Brexit Party voice there in the House of Commons or we're not going to get anything like what we voted for three-and-a-half years ago."

9. Media

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Nigel Farage, UK Brexit Party leader:

"We have a population crisis. Directly as a result of policies since the late 1990s."

11. Cutaway

12. SOUNDBITE (English) Nigel Farage, UK Brexit Party leader:

"We would very much want to get immigration numbers down to what for 60 years were very acceptable and very workable post-war levels."

13. Cutaway

14. SOUNDBITE (English) Nigel Farage, UK Brexit Party leader:

"On illegal immigration, I think we probably need to do something to stop the human tragedy we saw in the back of that lorry the other week with 39 dead people, but even today there are boats coming across the English Channel and we all know that the Border Force bring them in to Dover, they're kept with the police for 24 hours and then virtually everybody disappears."

15. Brexit Party MEP Ann Widdecombe in audience

16. SOUNDBITE (English) Nigel Farage, UK Brexit Party leader:

"We think a strong message that says if you come here illegally across the Channel or in the back of a container that you wouldn't be allowed to stay will prevent further human tragedy, and it's the right thing to do."

17. Pan from media to Farage

In Hartlepool, a tough, proud port town whipped by bitter North Sea winds, people have long felt ignored by politicians in far-off London.

Not now, in Britain's Brexit-dominated early election.

Britain's political parties are battling to win Hartlepool and places like it: working-class former industrial towns whose voters could hold the key to the prime minister's 10 Downing Street office.

Once, it would have been no contest.

Hartlepool has elected lawmakers from the left-of-center Labour Party for more than half a century.

But in 2016, almost 70% of voters here backed leaving the European Union.

More than three years later, the UK is still an EU member, and loyalty to Labour has been eroded by frustration.

Trawlers still land with holds full of fish, lobster and crab; but the number of boats has fallen, and fishermen rail against the quotas and red tape imposed by the EU's Common Fisheries Policy.

Fisherman Robert Corner, 74, says he will be voting for the Conservative Party on December 12.

"I am voting Conservative for the first time in my life this vote. I hope Boris (Johnson, UK Prime Minister) fetches us out of this friggen EU," he said.

Fellow fisherman Steve Horsley agrees and feels the Labour Party offers "nothing" to people like him.

"l've always been a Labour voter," said Diane Jordan, a hypnotherapist enjoying an evening of music and bingo at the Hartlepool Working Mans Club. "My parents were always Labour: my grandparents were always Labour. Hartlepool's always been Labour and now I'm not going to go Labour."

Jordan is now considering voting for the Conservative Party for the first time.

That's good news for Johnson, who pushed for the December 12 election, more than two years early, in hope of breaking Britain's parliamentary deadlock over Brexit.

If he gets a majority of the 650 House of Commons seats, he will be able to ratify his EU divorce deal – which he withdrew from Parliament last month after lawmakers demanded more time to scrutinize it – and take Britain out of the bloc as scheduled on January 31.

Tom O'Grady, a lecturer in political science at University College London, said the Conservatives need to win seats like Hartlepool to compensate for the likely loss of pro-EU areas in southern England and Scotland.

"They're going to have to gain seats in the north of England and the Midlands from Labour if they're going to win a big majority at this election," he said.

But the Conservatives' challenge is complicated by the insurgent Brexit Party, led by veteran eurosceptic Nigel Farage.

Farage rejects Johnson's deal with the EU because it would keep the UK bound to the bloc's rules until the end of 2020, and possibly longer.

He'd rather leave the EU without an agreement, which would free Britain to strike new trade deals around the world.

It would also, according to most economists, leave the country poorer, by imposing barriers to business with the EU, Britain's biggest trading partner.

Supporters of a "hard Brexit" like Farage dismiss such claims, and accuse both Conservatives and Labour of watering down and delaying Brexit.

Hartlepool, where the Brexit Party controls the town council, is the party's top target in the election.

Richard Tice, the Brexit Party chairman and its candidate for Hartlepool hopes to win over former Labour voters who support Brexit.

"I am telling voters in Hartlepool they have been let down and betrayed by the Labour Party - that is betraying them on Brexit and has had a MP in this constituency for over 60 years and actually they have let down the voters here. I am going to pledge I am going to get a proper Brexit done. I am going to bring money and jobs into Hartlepool."

Mike Hill, who has been Hartlepool's Labour lawmaker since 2017 and is running for re-election, says he's not worried.  

Labour's complex stance on Brexit – it wants to renegotiate the divorce deal, then hold a new referendum on whether to leave the EU or remain – has angered some supporters.

But the party hopes its focus on social issues such as crime, health care and welfare – all affected by a decade of Conservative public-spending cuts – matters more to voters than Brexit.

He predicted locals might not warm to Tice, a wealthy property developer from the south of England.

"The Brexit Party seem to think they can come here with some southern billionaire candidate and just waltz into the place. Well, the people of Hartlepool are not fools," Hill said. "They can see right through that."

Hartlepool, United Kingdom - 11 November 2019

1. Various of colourful houses on the Hartlepool shoreline

2. Various of lighthouse

3. Close up of Hartlepool Borough Council sign

4. Various of fishermen offloading crabs from a fishing trawler

5. Fisherman Steve Horsley working on a fishing net

6. Horsley and fisherman Robert Corner working on a fishing net

7. Corner holding fishing net

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Robert Corner, fisherman:

"My father, my mother, everybody voted Labour (UK opposition party). Now I voted UKIP (UK Independence Party) for the last...twice (last two elections) and I am voting Conservative (UK ruling party) for the first time in my life this vote. I hope Boris (Johnson, UK Prime Minister) fetches us out of this friggen EU."

8. Tilt up of Horsley working on a fishing net

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Steve Horsley, fisherman:

"Well (Brexit Party leader, Nigel) Farage started it off and the he walked away from it didn't he? You know I mean what was that about? And (Labour Party leader, Jeremy) Corbyn he has nothing at all for the likes of us people I don't think. Nothing at all."

10. Wide of Hartlepool Working Mans Club

11. Close of Hartlepool Working Mans Club sign

Hartlepool, United Kingdom - 10 November 2019

12. Various of people in Hartlepool Working Mans Club

13. SOUNDBITE (English) Diana Jordan, hypnotherapist:

"I have always been classed as a Labour voter because my parents were always Labour, my grandparents were always Labour, Hartlepool has always been Labour and now I am not going to go Labour."

14. Various of lorry driver Clive Jordan at Hartlepool Working Mans Club

15. SOUNDBITE (English) Clive Jordan, lorry driver:

"I voted Labour all my life, but because of the way certain people are in Labour I have gone off of them now. I am not voting Labour no more. They've literally just blew it with me now."

London - 12 November 2019

16. Various of Tom O'Grady, lecturer in quantitative political science at UCL (University College London)

17. SOUNDBITE (English) Tom O'Grady, lecturer in quantitative political science at UCL:

"Seats like Hartlepool are seats where, if the Conservatives are going to win a big majority, they have to win seats like that. Hartlepool, about the 110th seat on the Conservatives' list of gains, but because the Conservatives are going to probably lose seats in Scotland to the Scottish National Party and lose seats in the south of England to the Liberal Democrats, they're going to have to gain seats in the north of England and the Midlands from Labour if they're going to win a big majority at this election."

Hartlepool, United Kingdom - 11 November 2019

18. Various of a decommissioned oil rig at Hartlepool ship recycling facility

19. Wide of Brexit Party banner in Hartlepool town centre

20. Richard Tice, Brexit Party chairman and candidate for Hartlepool, talking to media

21. SOUNDBITE (English) Richard Tice, Brexit Party candidate for Hartlepool:

"I am telling voters in Hartlepool they have been let down and betrayed by the Labour Party - that is betraying them on Brexit and has had a MP in this constituency for over 60 years and actually they have let down the voters here. I am going to pledge I am going to get a proper Brexit done. I am going to bring money and jobs into Hartlepool."

22. Wide of Labour Party campaigners including Hartlepool MP Mike Hill (red jacket) meeting in a parking lot

23. Close of Labour Party rosette on Hill's jacket

24. SOUNDBITE (English) Mike Hill, Labour Party MP in Hartlepool:

"The Brexit Party seem to think they come here with some southern billionaire candidate (Tice) and just waltz in the place. Well, the people of Hartlepool are not fools. They can see right through that and they'll consider somebody thinking that they can parachute into this constituency as bit of an insult to be absolutely honest, because the town deserves better."

25. Various of Hill handing out Labour Party pamphlets

26. Close of Labour Party pamphlet comparing the Conservatives and Brexit Party with Labour

LEAD IN

Brexit uncertainty has led to some jitters within the travel industry ahead of the traditional getaway to tourist hotspots like Lapland.

Some are noticing later bookings than usual, but the delay in Brexit has been welcomed by others serving the UK market.

STORY-LINE

Santa doesn't have to worry about renewing his passport to travel the globe and visit UK children this year.

He was saved at the last minute by the latest January Brexit extension.

The UK is due to leave the European Union by the end of January, while Finland, the official home of Santa Claus, remains a member.

It's been three years since Brits voted in a referendum to leave the EU, and an air of uncertainty has hovered over many industries ever since.

Kirsi Jokela is originally from Lapland and now works in London for the Nordic travel company, Best Served Scandinavia.

She says one thing she has noticed since the referendum is that Brits are booking holidays to Lapland much later in the year than previously, a possible result of economic uncertainty.

However she says the quantity of bookings is still high:

"We are actually looking forward to one of our best Decembers yet, we still have a few rooms available."

She adds that due to counter currency exchange fluctuations and the weakening of the pound, they are now offering price guarentees.

"We've been offering a Brexit price guarantee which means that we will honour the exchange rate at the time of booking, which seems to be encouraging people to book."

Ilkka Lankinen is the chief experience officer at one of Lapland's main tourist attarctions, Santa Park.

Speaking in London he says the Brexit extension is " definitely good news for us, and also because the UK market is great for us, we love the UK guests and they love us. Now we have snow, now we have cold and now we have no Brexit at least at the moment so it's looking good for Christmas."

Sean Tipton from the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) agrees that economic uncertainty around Brexit doesn't seem to be putting off the average Lapland tourist.

Firstly, he says, many choose package deals which are paid for in sterling and secondly most are aware that it is not a cheap holiday destination to begin with.

However he adds that there are two major practical considerations to take into account once Britain is no longer a member of the EU.

"First of all your European health insurance card gives you access to state medical care which is very good in Finland, you won't be able to use that, so you need to have decent travel insurance," he says.

"And check your passport, because you'll need at least 6 months validity left on the end of your passport, which currently you don't, but again that's only an issue if your passport is due for renewal. So if it is check it and renew it now, it doesn't take very long, it's a pretty efficient process."

Tipton advises that during these uncertain times, which have also recently seen major travel group Thomas Cook collapse, it's always safer to book a package holiday.

Rovaniemi, Finland - 12 December 2018

1. Low shot of Santa walking through forest at Santa Claus Village

2. Santa arriving at sleigh

Rovaniemi, Finland - 16 December 2018

3. Tracking of reindeer pulling sleigh at Santa Claus Village

4. Various of tourists taking reindeer sleigh rides

London, UK – 17 October 2019

5. Tilt down from World map to Kirsi Jokela, Scandinavia Product & Trade Sales Manager, 'Best Served Scandinavia'

6. Close of Best Served Scandinavia brochure where Jokela is looking at images of Lapland

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Kirsi Jokela, Scandinavia Product & Trade Sales Manager, 'Best Served Scandinavia'

"I think what we've noticed is that people are booking a lot later than they used to, which might sometimes mean that they don't get their first choice of holiday, but we are actually looking forward to one of our best Decembers yet, we still have a few rooms available."

Rovaniemi, Finland - 12 December 2016

8. Pan right of sunrise on River Kemijoki

9. Close of frozen branch

10. Tilt up of snow-covered tree

11. Wide of sunrise on River Kemijoki

London, UK – 17 October 2019

12. SOUNDBITE (English) Kirsi Jokela, Scandinavia Product & Trade Sales Manager, 'Best Served Scandinavia'

"So one thing that could change post Brexit is the currency exchange and we've been offering a Brexit price guarantee which means that we will honour the exchange rate at the time of booking, which seems to be encouraging people to book."

Rovaniemi, Finland – 9 December 2017

++NIGHT SHOTS++

13. Wide of Santa Claus Village

14. Tilt down of Santa Claus Village entrance

15. Santa Claus and elves packing presents

London, UK - 4 November 2019

16. Tilt down people dressed as Finnish characters at Visit Finland stand at World Travel Market at ExCeL London

17. SOUNDBITE (English) Ilkka Lankinen, Chief Experience Officer, Santa Park, Arctic World, Finland:

"Since Brexit is now at least postponed for some time, that's good news, and I think that the market feel at the moment at least that we are getting is that it's kind of a stand still because everybody is waiting to have a decision one way or another way."

18. Mid of people dressed as Finnish characters posing for photos with WTM visitor

19. SOUNDBITE (English) Ilkka Lankinen, Chief Experience Officer, Santa Park, Arctic World, Finland:

"It's definitely good news for us, and also because the UK market is great for us, we love the UK guests and they love us. Now we have snow, now we have cold and now we have no Brexit at least at the moment so it's looking good for Christmas."

Rovaniemi, Finland - 10 December 2016

20. Low shot of child on ice slide at Snowman World ice bar

21. Pan left of children using ice slide

22. Pull out of corridor in ice bar, chandeliers hanging from ceiling

23. Pull focus between chandeliers

London, UK – 17 October 2019

24. Pull focus from orchid on desk to receptionist and sign reading (English) ABTA The Travel Association

25. Close of sign reading (English) ABTA The Travel Association

26. SOUNDBITE (English) Sean Tipton, Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) spokesperson:

"If you look at the ways that people get to go to Lapland on these trips to see Father Christmas they're generally packages. Now one of the advantages of a package is you pay it in Sterling, so you don't have to worry about fluctuations of exchange rates, obviously there will be maybe day to day expenses when you get there but people are aware of the fact that it's not the cheapest destination to travel to so I don't think budget is really a problem for most people going, and again once you are there it's a pretty magical experience and it's not something you're going to do every year it's probably a one off when your kids are very small."

Rovaniemi, Finland - 16 December 2018

27. Various of tourists melting marshmallows by fire

London, UK – 17 October 2019

28. SOUNDBITE (English) Sean Tipton, Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) spokesperson:

"First of all, your European health insurance card gives you access to state medical care, which is very good in Finland. You won't be able to use that. So you need to have decent travel insurance. And the chances are you are not going to fall ill but it's always a possibility so have decent travel insurance."

Rovaniemi, Finland - 10 December 2016

29. Wide of Santa and sleigh

30. Close of reindeer

London, UK – 17 October 2019

31. SOUNDBITE (English) Sean Tipton, Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) spokesperson:

"And check your passport, because you'll need at least 6 months validity left on the end of your passport, which currently you don't, but again that's only an issue if your passport is due for renewal. So if it is check it and renew it now, it doesn't take very long, it's a pretty efficient process."

Rovaniemi, Finland - 12 December 2018

++NIGHT SHOTS++

32. Wide of lights at 'Santa Claus Village' at night

33. Pan from Christmas tree to building

34. Pull focus of lights on Christmas tree

35 . Various of Santa Claus reading letter

London, UK – 17 October 2019

36. SOUNDBITE (English) Sean Tipton, Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) spokesperson:

"By Thomas Cook going that's created opportunities for the travel companies that are left so that is a way is a form of boost to them. But I can't deny there might be other travel companies going out of business, that's why it's important that you book a package holiday, because as we saw with Thomas Cook if you've got a package you will continue with your holiday as normal, if they go out of business while you're there and they'll bring you home free of charge. And if you're due to go you'll get a full refund. So don't worry about it in that sense, but the chances of you being personally affected by a travel company failure are pretty small."

Rovaniemi, Finland - 10 December 2016

37. Various of Santa Claus riding away on sleigh

LEAD IN

Brexit uncertainty has led to some jitters within the travel industry ahead of the traditional getaway to tourist hotspots like Lapland.

Some are noticing later bookings than usual, but the delay in Brexit has been welcomed by others serving the UK market.

STORY-LINE

Santa doesn't have to worry about renewing his passport to travel the globe and visit UK children this year.

He was saved at the last minute by the latest January Brexit extension.

The UK is due to leave the European Union by the end of January, while Finland, the official home of Santa Claus, remains a member.

It's been three years since Brits voted in a referendum to leave the EU, and an air of uncertainty has hovered over many industries ever since.

Kirsi Jokela is originally from Lapland and now works in London for the Nordic travel company, Best Served Scandinavia.

She says one thing she has noticed since the referendum is that Brits are booking holidays to Lapland much later in the year than previously, a possible result of economic uncertainty.

However she says the quantity of bookings is still high:

"We are actually looking forward to one of our best Decembers yet, we still have a few rooms available."

She adds that due to counter currency exchange fluctuations and the weakening of the pound, they are now offering price guarentees.

"We've been offering a Brexit price guarantee which means that we will honour the exchange rate at the time of booking, which seems to be encouraging people to book."

Ilkka Lankinen is the chief experience officer at one of Lapland's main tourist attarctions, Santa Park.

Speaking in London he says the Brexit extension is " definitely good news for us, and also because the UK market is great for us, we love the UK guests and they love us. Now we have snow, now we have cold and now we have no Brexit at least at the moment so it's looking good for Christmas."

Sean Tipton from the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) agrees that economic uncertainty around Brexit doesn't seem to be putting off the average Lapland tourist.

Firstly, he says, many choose package deals which are paid for in sterling and secondly most are aware that it is not a cheap holiday destination to begin with.

However he adds that there are two major practical considerations to take into account once Britain is no longer a member of the EU.

"First of all your European health insurance card gives you access to state medical care which is very good in Finland, you won't be able to use that, so you need to have decent travel insurance," he says.

"And check your passport, because you'll need at least 6 months validity left on the end of your passport, which currently you don't, but again that's only an issue if your passport is due for renewal. So if it is check it and renew it now, it doesn't take very long, it's a pretty efficient process."

Tipton advises that during these uncertain times, which have also recently seen major travel group Thomas Cook collapse, it's always safer to book a package holiday.

Rovaniemi, Finland - 12 December 2018

1. Low shot of Santa walking through forest at Santa Claus Village

2. Santa arriving at sleigh

Rovaniemi, Finland - 16 December 2018

3. Tracking of reindeer pulling sleigh at Santa Claus Village

4. Various of tourists taking reindeer sleigh rides

London, UK – 17 October 2019

5. Tilt down from World map to Kirsi Jokela, Scandinavia Product & Trade Sales Manager, 'Best Served Scandinavia'

6. Close of Best Served Scandinavia brochure where Jokela is looking at images of Lapland

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Kirsi Jokela, Scandinavia Product & Trade Sales Manager, 'Best Served Scandinavia'

"I think what we've noticed is that people are booking a lot later than they used to, which might sometimes mean that they don't get their first choice of holiday, but we are actually looking forward to one of our best Decembers yet, we still have a few rooms available."

Rovaniemi, Finland - 12 December 2016

8. Pan right of sunrise on River Kemijoki

9. Close of frozen branch

10. Tilt up of snow-covered tree

11. Wide of sunrise on River Kemijoki

London, UK – 17 October 2019

12. SOUNDBITE (English) Kirsi Jokela, Scandinavia Product & Trade Sales Manager, 'Best Served Scandinavia'

"So one thing that could change post Brexit is the currency exchange and we've been offering a Brexit price guarantee which means that we will honour the exchange rate at the time of booking, which seems to be encouraging people to book."

Rovaniemi, Finland – 9 December 2017

++NIGHT SHOTS++

13. Wide of Santa Claus Village

14. Tilt down of Santa Claus Village entrance

15. Santa Claus and elves packing presents

London, UK - 4 November 2019

16. Tilt down people dressed as Finnish characters at Visit Finland stand at World Travel Market at ExCeL London

17. SOUNDBITE (English) Ilkka Lankinen, Chief Experience Officer, Santa Park, Arctic World, Finland:

"Since Brexit is now at least postponed for some time, that's good news, and I think that the market feel at the moment at least that we are getting is that it's kind of a stand still because everybody is waiting to have a decision one way or another way."

18. Mid of people dressed as Finnish characters posing for photos with WTM visitor

19. SOUNDBITE (English) Ilkka Lankinen, Chief Experience Officer, Santa Park, Arctic World, Finland:

"It's definitely good news for us, and also because the UK market is great for us, we love the UK guests and they love us. Now we have snow, now we have cold and now we have no Brexit at least at the moment so it's looking good for Christmas."

Rovaniemi, Finland - 10 December 2016

20. Low shot of child on ice slide at Snowman World ice bar

21. Pan left of children using ice slide

22. Pull out of corridor in ice bar, chandeliers hanging from ceiling

23. Pull focus between chandeliers

London, UK – 17 October 2019

24. Pull focus from orchid on desk to receptionist and sign reading (English) ABTA The Travel Association

25. Close of sign reading (English) ABTA The Travel Association

26. SOUNDBITE (English) Sean Tipton, Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) spokesperson:

"If you look at the ways that people get to go to Lapland on these trips to see Father Christmas they're generally packages. Now one of the advantages of a package is you pay it in Sterling, so you don't have to worry about fluctuations of exchange rates, obviously there will be maybe day to day expenses when you get there but people are aware of the fact that it's not the cheapest destination to travel to so I don't think budget is really a problem for most people going, and again once you are there it's a pretty magical experience and it's not something you're going to do every year it's probably a one off when your kids are very small."

Rovaniemi, Finland - 16 December 2018

27. Various of tourists melting marshmallows by fire

London, UK – 17 October 2019

28. SOUNDBITE (English) Sean Tipton, Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) spokesperson:

"First of all, your European health insurance card gives you access to state medical care, which is very good in Finland. You won't be able to use that. So you need to have decent travel insurance. And the chances are you are not going to fall ill but it's always a possibility so have decent travel insurance."

Rovaniemi, Finland - 10 December 2016

29. Wide of Santa and sleigh

30. Close of reindeer

London, UK – 17 October 2019

31. SOUNDBITE (English) Sean Tipton, Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) spokesperson:

"And check your passport, because you'll need at least 6 months validity left on the end of your passport, which currently you don't, but again that's only an issue if your passport is due for renewal. So if it is check it and renew it now, it doesn't take very long, it's a pretty efficient process."

Rovaniemi, Finland - 12 December 2018

++NIGHT SHOTS++

32. Wide of lights at 'Santa Claus Village' at night

33. Pan from Christmas tree to building

34. Pull focus of lights on Christmas tree

35 . Various of Santa Claus reading letter

London, UK – 17 October 2019

36. SOUNDBITE (English) Sean Tipton, Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) spokesperson:

"By Thomas Cook going that's created opportunities for the travel companies that are left so that is a way is a form of boost to them. But I can't deny there might be other travel companies going out of business, that's why it's important that you book a package holiday, because as we saw with Thomas Cook if you've got a package you will continue with your holiday as normal, if they go out of business while you're there and they'll bring you home free of charge. And if you're due to go you'll get a full refund. So don't worry about it in that sense, but the chances of you being personally affected by a travel company failure are pretty small."

Rovaniemi, Finland - 10 December 2016

37. Various of Santa Claus riding away on sleigh

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage promised to provide a "clean break Brexit" in northwest England on Wednesday as he campaigned for the general election.

Speaking in front of supporters in Workington, Farage mocked Labour's Brexit policy, asking the audience if "anyone here know what the Labour Party's policy is?", arguing the party has gone against its promises to respect the result of the 2017 referendum.

"They tell us we didn't know what we were voting for. How dare they patronise us and talk down to us like that as if we're a bunch of cretins?" Farage said of Labour's position.

The Brexit Party leader also attacked Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit deal, saying it was still tying the UK to the EU in many aspects.

Farage also said Northern Ireland's status in Johnson's proposed deal "will lead to consequences with Scotland and agony and argument for years to come."

UK POOL

Workington, Cumbria - 6 November 2019

1. Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage walking to the stage

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Nigel Farage, Brexit Party leader:

"This Labour Party, promised during the referendum, after the referendum and in their election manifesto of 2017, they promised they would abide by the result of the referendum. They would respect the result of the referendum and they would implement the result of the referendum. And now they have completely turned their backs on five million Labour voters who voted to leave. Because now the Labour Party's policy now... anyone here know what the Labour Party's policy is?"

++BLACK FRAMES++

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Nigel Farage, Brexit Party leader:

"Labour's, Corbyn's position is this - they will give us a second referendum because the first time we got it wrong, because, and my goodness me, when I hear this, it makes me mad, perhaps it does you, they tell us we didn't know what we were voting for. How dare they patronise us and talk down to us like that as if we're a bunch of cretins? We knew what we voted for. We voted to become an independent, self-governing, proud nation that determined its own future."

++BLACK FRAMES++

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Nigel Farage, Brexit Party leader:

"This deal does not get Brexit done. The agony will go on for year after year and the demands and the terms of that deal, of that trade deal are that we continue the surrender of our fisheries, that we align in regulation on everything from employment policy, to social policy to environmental policy and even taxation. So literally, he's trying to present us with we will have left when everything from financial services to fisheries will be regulated and in line with what's passed in Europe, not what is passed in our Parliament. I'm sorry, Mr (Boris) Johnson, that is not Brexit. And I am not prepared after 25 years of fighting for us to be free to stand aside and see this sold down the river, I won't do it. It's simple as that."

++BLACK FRAMES++

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Nigel Farage, Brexit Party leader:

"Boris got rid of the backstop, which meant that Great Britain is not committed to being in the Customs Union. But the price of that, sir, was to put a border out there in the Irish Sea to divide up the United Kingdom, which will lead to consequences with Scotland and agony and argument for years to come."

++BLACK FRAMES++

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Nigel Farage, Brexit Party leader:

"Because it's there. The menus there. You can vote for the Liberal Democrats. Now you can vote for that, it will be up. I'm not saying you should vote for them, but you can vote Lib Dem to just cancel the whole thing. You can vote Labour to have a second referendum with a choice of remain v. remain. You can vote for Boris. Which says, don't you trust Boris up here? Gosh, that think tank got it all wrong, didn't they? You can vote for Boris's Party, which is Brexit in name only half in and half out. Or you can vote for us and we say we've had enough of all this, extension after extension, on the 31st of January we should leave with a clean break Brexit, and I'll make sure that choice is on every ballot paper, thank you."

++EDIT ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++

UK Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage said on Monday he was "certain" Britain would not leave the European Union without his party.

Launching the Brexit Party's general election campaign, Farage said they will contest every constituency in England, Scotland and Wales unless Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson scraps his EU divorce deal.

He said accusations his party would split the pro-Brexit vote were untrue, declaring Johnson's agreement as "not Brexit" and a "sell out".

Farage said the Brexit Party "will be the only people actually offering Brexit leaving the European Union and its institutions".

Johnson's promise to have Britain leave the EU by 31 October had been the central plank in the party leadership competition that brought him to power in July.

UK voters will head to the polls for a snap general election on 12 December, ahead of the recently extended Brexit deadline date on the 31 January 2020.

++PLEASE NOTE: NO CUTAWAYS AVAILABLE / SOUNDBITES SEPARATED BY BLACK++

UK POOL

London - 4 November 2019

1. SOUNDBITE (English) Nigel Farage, Brexit Party leader:

"We (the UK) got a new prime minister (Boris Johnson) full of optimism, energy and indeed, fun. And thank goodness, after the previous couple of years. But what has Boris Johnson done? He has picked up that treaty. He has amended it. He has made it slightly better in terms of the customs union membership for Great Britain. But in doing so, he has hived off a part of the United Kingdom despite his own promises that he would never do any such thing. It paves the way, I think, for disastrous problems with Scotland over the course of the coming years. And he's now put that treaty back before us in this general election. And he says, vote for this and we will get Brexit done. Now that is a very tempting slogan on a public who, after three and a half years of this process, have in many cases just about had enough. But the problem is it doesn't get Brexit done. All it does is take us into another three years of agonizing negotiations with, yes, you've guessed it, Michel Barnier (EU chief Brexit negotiator) in charge."

++BLACK FRAMES++

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Nigel Farage, Brexit Party leader:

"And here is the problem with the proposition that Boris Johnson is putting to the British people. It is not Brexit. It's not Brexit. It's a sell out. It is a sell out."

++BLACK FRAMES++

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Nigel Farage, Brexit Party leader:

"There will be no Brexit without the Brexit Party, of that I'm certain."

++BLACK FRAMES++

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Nigel Farage, Brexit Party leader:

"They say that we (Brexit Party) will split the vote, but we won't split the vote because we will be the only people actually offering Brexit leaving the European Union and its institutions."

Brexit supporters and opponents braved bad weather to watch Queen Elizabeth II ride to Westminster on Monday for the ceremonial state opening of parliament.

Clusters of British and EU flags lined Whitehall as the monarch, accompanied by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, made her way to parliament in the horse-drawn Diamond Jubilee State Coach.

Britain is scheduled to leave the EU on 31 October, and an EU summit on Thursday or Friday is considered one of the last possible chances to approve a divorce agreement.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson insists the country will leave at the end of the month with or without a deal.

London - 14 October 2019

1. Various of Queen Elizabeth II's procession coming down Whitehall towards parliament

2. Various of Brexit supporters waving Union Jack flags and umbrellas singing (in English)"Bye, bye EU, bye, bye EU"

3. Mid of British flag and EU umbrella

4. Mid of British flags

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Tim Griffiths, pro-Brexit demonstrator:

"Well, actually like the British culture, which is represented by this sort of thing. The thing is, that is not the EU, that is the United Kingdom, and a lot of people want to celebrate that, even people who talk about remain, like the Royal family and things like that. The thing is, that structure is not compatible with the EU, is it, and we need to make that choice, we need to realise that and make a proper decision."

6. Wide of Brexit supporters shouting (English) "Brexit now, Brexit now"

7. Various of anti-Brexit demonstrators and cutaways of guardsman

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Helen Searby, anti-Brexit demonstrator:

"I'm here today because I want to send a message to the Queen to say that we don't want our United Kingdom broken up, we want to stay, we want to keep it intact, we want the Union intact and Boris Johnson (British Prime Minister) with his crazy antics, trying to force through a Brexit, a no-deal Brexit or any kind of Brexit, is going to lead to the break up of our United Kingdom."

9. Various of Queen's procession heading back to Buckingham Palace after speech

The European Union's Brexit negotiator said Wednesday the Brexit proposals of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson constitute "progress" that finally opens up room for negotiations before the crucial EU summit in two weeks’ time.

But Michel Barnier said the gap between both sides remains daunting and "to be frank lots of work still needs to be done" to reach a new agreement and an alternative to the so-called Northern Ireland "backstop".

The border on the island of Ireland remains the key sticking point and the EU is insistent it remains transparent and open, that any deal doesn’t hamper the seamless economic cooperation between the EU’s Ireland and the UK’s Northern Ireland and that any border deal respects the rules of the EU internal market.

Barnier said ahead of a meeting of the EU's Brexit Steering Group in Brussels that "no deal will never be the choice of the EU, never, so we will continue to reach a deal".

Brussels - 2 October 2019

1. Wide of EU Brexit Steering Group coordinator Guy Verhofstadt arriving at meeting and saying while walking UPSOUND (English) "We will make an assessment immediately and afterward I think there will be a statement of the Brexit Steering Group"

2. Wide of former European Parliament president, MEP and Brexit Steering Group member Antonio Tajani arriving

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Antonio Tajani, MEP and Brexit Steering Group member:

"We will work all together, we will study, we will give an answer to the proposal of the UK."

(Reporter journalist: Are you willing to compromise?)

"We have the meeting now, to decide before the meeting is not easy."

4. EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier arriving

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Michel Barnier, EU chief Brexit negotiator:

"So my team met the British team today and we received a legal proposal. There is progress but to be frank a lot of work still needs to be done to reach, to fulfil, the three objectives of the backstop: no border, all-Ireland economy and protecting the single market, that means protecting the consumers, the citizens and the businesses inside the single market, the 27 member states (of the EU)."

6. Cutaway journalists

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Michel Barnier, EU Brexit chief negotiator:

"The no deal will never be the choice of the EU, never, so we will continue to reach a deal, to work with the UK team, but a deal which respects and fulfils the three commitments, the three proposals of the backstop just as I mentioned, in a legally operative manner and respecting the mandate given to the Commission by the European Council and the Parliament."

8. Various of Brexit Steering Group roundtable

The UK's Brexit Party leader said he was confident Britons would vote to leave the EU by an even bigger margin in the event of a second referendum.

Nigel Farage addressed supporters at the Brexit Party conference in London on Friday.

Farage is one of the UK's leading pro-Brexit voices and partly spearheaded the campaign that resulted in the UK voting to leave the European Union in the 2016 referendum.

The Brexit Party won 29 of the 73 British seats in the European Parliament earlier this year.

UK POOL

London - 27 September 2019

1. Wide of Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage speaking

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Nigel Farage, Brexit Party leader:

(criticising senior figures in UK politics)

"Because they've actually said that Brexiteers are basically stupid. That Brexiteers didn't know what they were voting for. That Brexiteers are somehow a lower subspecies than they are. They have a moral superiority. They believe they're actually better people than us. And that I think is where, the strong language, the bad behaviour, that is where it begins.

3. Audience applauding, holding up signs

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Nigel Farage, Brexit Party leader:

"If we did have to face a second referendum, and provided we were given a proper question with a genuine Leave on the ballot paper, I have absolutely no doubt we would vote to leave by a bigger margin than we did back in 2016."

5. Audience applauding, holding up signs

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Nigel Farage, Brexit Party leader:

"But whatever happens there will not, and listen to this, establishment, please, there will not be violent riots on our streets. Do you know why? Because we have got a well-run, sensible, moderate democratic political party called the Brexit party. People won't riot. They'll come and join the Brexit party and we'll do this democratically, and we'll do it peacefully."

7. Wide of Farage speaking

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Nigel Farage, Brexit Party leader:

"We're not actually quite sure, likeable though Boris is in so many ways, we're not just sure what he himself actually believes in. Is he really, truly a genuine Brexiteer? And I say that because the developments of the last couple of weeks have been, I think, quite disturbing."

9. Audience applauding

10. People on stage

11. Various of Farage leaving

The National Wallace Monument in Stirling was built over a century ago to pay homage to one Scotland's most famous freedom fighters, Sir William Wallace.

The monument overlooks the site where Wallace led his men in the 1297 Battle of Stirling Bridge, which the Scottish side won.

For many Scots who would want to see their country independent from the United Kingdom, Wallace is a symbol of their yearning for self-determination.

The National Wallace Monument is a politically neutral charity that takes no stance on Scottish independence.

Edinburgh-based actor Gilchrist Muir says he's always felt Scottish rather than British and has long viewed the U.K.'s Union Jack flag as "a symbol of oppression."

For one of his more regular acting jobs, Muir dresses up in chain mail and leather as Sir William Wallace, recounting to tourists how the 13th century Scottish independence hero defeated English invaders in the 1297 Battle of Stirling Bridge. Wallace was later executed in London in 1305 - hanged, disemboweled and beheaded as a traitor to England's King Edward I.

Mel Gibson played Wallace in the 1995 movie "Braveheart." Posing for tourists' photos with his long sword, Muir borrows Gibson's signature cry from the film, howling: "Freedom!"

But out of costume, chatting in an Edinburgh pub over a beer, he's deeply pessimistic about any shift in Westminster's stance.

"It's like I'm a passenger in a car that's out of control, and the driver's left, and you have no say over where the car's going. That's what it feels like right now. The Parliament has been hijacked. We have no say. Scotland has no voice," he says.

In 2014, Scots had a chance to go it alone.

Voters took part in a referendum in which they were asked: "Should Scotland be an independent country?"

They cast their ballot, having been told their votes might be the most important they'd ever cast, as the choice wouldn't be offered again for at least a generation.

So when the ballot-count delivered a clear 55-45 split against independence, that seemed to settle it: Scotland would, for the foreseeable future, remain with England, Wales and Northern Ireland in a United Kingdom governed from London.

But less than two years later came another epoch-shaping and even more earth-shaking referendum, the Brexit poll.

While the UK voted to leave the European Union, Scots distinguished themselves as the biggest dissenters.

Not only did Scotland vote overwhelmingly to stay in the EU, it was the only one of the UK's four parts where not a single constituency delivered a "Yes" vote to leave.

Simply put: Scotland is being dragged largely unwillingly toward a messy divorce, scheduled to take place on 31 October, quite possibly without an agreement to cushion expected blows to businesses and households.

Disgruntlement with Brexit and machinations in Westminster that have pushed the UK ever closer to a No Deal departure is so keenly felt in Scotland that independence is back as an issue.

Many who voted no to independence are now apparently changing their minds.

Chris Deerin, director of the Reform Scotland think-tank, was a firm "No" in 2014, describing the idea of a breakup of the union with Britain as "utterly bizarre" and "almost unthinkable" in his political commentaries at the time.

As Brexit looms, Deerin's tune is changing.

"If Scotland is independent in 2025, 2030, I think Brexit will pretty obviously be the main reason for that. ... It has set Scotland against England."

Scottish flags, with a white cross on a blue background, hang inside and outside the distillery where Dale McQueen brews gin.

Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon, who champions calls for a second independence referendum by 2021, opened his new factory this year in Callander, with spectacular views of surrounding crags.

McQueen says he hopes to be able to plow profits from his fast-growing business into a second referendum campaign.

"Scotland didn't vote for Brexit and so, against the will of the Scottish people, we are being forced out of Europe," he said, adding "I'm certainly of the opinion that Scotland could be a much more prosperous country living on its own economy, making its own rules."

Rather than be shackled to what they suspect could become a diminished and isolated post-Brexit UK, advocates of independence are clamouring for another referendum to allow Scotland to strike out on its own, and perhaps even re-join the EU at some point.

But Scots wanting a second shot at independence won't automatically get one.

The UK government has repeatedly ruled out the possibility, saying Scots had their say and that a second vote could heap further division on the country already riven by generational, regional, political and economic divides over Brexit.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's hardball negotiating tactics since he took office in July, replacing Theresa May after she failed to get Parliament's backing for her Brexit deal with the EU, suggest to some Scots that he's especially unlikely to yield.

Johnson has taken steps to suspend Parliament for part of the remaining weeks before the Oct. 31 departure, shrinking options and time for lawmakers who want to stop a chaotic no-deal departure. Johnson's critics have likened him to a dictator and his maneuverings to a coup.

"Are you a democrat or not? Do you respect the will of the Scottish people or not" said Ian Blackford, a lawmaker with the pro-EU Scottish National Party, addressing Johnson as the U.K. Parliament reconvened Tuesday in London.

"The Scottish people did not vote for Brexit. The people of Scotland did not vote for a no-deal Brexit. They did not vote for the Tory party and they certainly did not vote for this prime minister," Blackford added during the raucous debate.

Britain's Parliament will attempt to defy Johnson's Brexit plans on Wednesday as lawmakers seek a way out of the impasse that has gripped the nation since the 2016 vote to leave the European Union.

The House of Commons is confronting Johnson over his insistence that the U.K. leave the EU on Oct. 31 even without a withdrawal agreement to cushion the economic blow. On Wednesday, it will consider a measure that will try to block a departure without a deal, amid cries from lawmakers that a no-deal Brexit will cause irreparable harm.

Stirling - 1 September 2019

1. Various of Wallace Monument in Stirling:

2. Actors in front of monument re-enacting events around the Battle of Stirling Bridge, which was led by William Wallace

3. Visitors watching

4. Gilchrist Muir, acting as William Wallace, UPSOUND (English) "I did not come here to talk or be bought. I came here to win back my country's freedom for its people."

5. Wide of actors and visitors

Edinburgh - 1 September 2019

6. Actor Gilchrist Muir sitting at Maggie Dickson's pub in town centre

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Gilchrist Muir, actor:

(++The National Wallace Monument is a politically neutral charity that takes no stance on Scottish independence - Muir's views do not represent the charity's views++)

"I feel like I'm, it's like I am a passenger in a car that's out of control and the driver's left and you are just, you have no say over where the car is going. So, that is what it feels like right now. The parliament has been hijacked. We have no say. Scotland has no voice; it hasn't had for quite some time."

Stirling - 1 September 2019

8. Wide of old Stirling Bridge over which the Battle of Stirling was fought, with Wallace Monument in the background

9. Various of plaque commemorating Battle of Stirling

10. Wide tilt down to Chris Deerin standing on Forthside Footbridge

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Chris Deerin, journalist, political commentator and director of the Reform Scotland think tank:

"If Scotland is independent in 2025 or 2030, I think Brexit will pretty obviously be the main reason for that. It will give momentum to the cause, it has exposed all sorts of problems with the union, it has set Scotland against England and Westminster seems very distant from Scotland at the moment."

12. Wide of old Stirling Bridge over which the Battle of Stirling was fought, with Wallace Monument in the background

13. SOUNDBITE (English) Chris Deerin, journalist, political commentator and director of the Reform Scotland think tank:

"You know, my case (at time of first independence referendum) was very much that the role of Britain in the world was an important one. And I think by taking Scotland out of the United Kingdom, what is left is inevitably diminished, both geographically, economically, perhaps morally a bit as well. And it didn't seem like a good time for that to happen, but since then, Britain has decided to leave the EU, Donald Trump has gone into power in America, we have all sorts of things happening on the European continent - populists on the rise - and I think it just sort of... everything is changing. And I think we should all be looking at some of the received wisdom and perhaps some of our own accepted viewpoints and just asking whether those are still the right views to have. As an individual, I am certainly more open-minded to the idea of an independent Scotland than I was before."

Callander - 1 September 2019

14 Various of exterior of McQueen Gin Distillery

15. Various Dale McQueen, owner of distillery, pouring a sample of gin, drinking

16. Wide of the Saltire, Scotland's flag, on wall at distillery

17. SOUNDBITE (English) Dale McQueen, owner McQueen Gin Distillery:

"Scotland didn't vote for Brexit and so, against the will of the Scottish people, we are being forced out of Europe. So we are being seen in action not to have any democratic voice. So we are voting for something that we are not getting."

18. Photograph against distillery shop wall of McQueen and Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon at opening of distillery

19. SOUNDBITE (English) Dale McQueen, owner McQueen Gin Distillery:

"I'm certainly of the opinion that Scotland could be a much more prosperous country living on its own economy, making its own rules."

Glasgow - 31 August 2019

20. Various of "Stop the Coup" protest in George Square, held in response to prorogue of parliament

21. SOUNDBITE (English) Jonathan Pew, railway industry worker:

"It (the suspension of parliament) has made me much more open to the idea of Scottish independence than I would have been, had we not been in the situation where the Westminster government was being closed down with an apparent desire to effectively force through a No Deal Brexit."

Edinburgh - 3 September 2019

22. Various of people walking in town centre

23. SOUNDBITE (English) Pauline (Surname not given) vox pop:

"I think it is just the general mood in this country. I think there is a recognition that as part of the UK, Scotland doesn't matter and our opinion doesn't matter, what we vote for doesn't matter. We are not an equal in the union, whereas we would be within the EU - our voice would matter."

24. St Giles Cathedral

25. SOUNDBITE (English) Ishbel MacDonald, vox pop:

"I mean I do believe in the UK as a union, but I think the way things are, I might have to vote to leave the union, because I can't really accept the government we have in Westminster. The whole system is broken, it is anti-democratic - I don't really want to be part of it."

26. Scottish flag

27. SOUNDBITE (English) Honor Flynn, vox pop:

"It (the suspension of parliament) has actually made it stronger for me for independence. It has definitely made it stronger and a lot of my friends actually voted 'no' and now everyone of them is going to be a 'yes' voter if it (second Scottish referendum) happens again."

28. Pan of Edinburgh town centre

29. Various of Scottish and Union flags waving in the wind