The end of a dismal affair

And so, after all, Brexit has happened. On Jan. 31, at 11 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time, five hours ahead of my desk in Washington, Britain quit the European Union.

For those of us who desired and sometimes sought this outcome for two or three decades, it is a thrill. But it is also a somber moment, undeniably poignant. The sight of European Parliament members mournfully singing “Auld Lang Syne” after approving Britain’s exit deal was perhaps a little ridiculous, but it was also genuinely sad. There was a shared understanding that this was an inflection point of pound seriousness.