Picture: Andrew Parsons/ 10 Downing Street

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has signed the Withdrawal Agreement Bill that takes Britain out of the EU.

Mr Johnson said it was a “fantastic moment that delivers the results of the 2016 referendum and brings to an end far too many years of argument and division”.

The controversial bill has taken more than a year to go through a rancorous Parliament.

Two Conservatives governments and two Prime Ministers have steered it – Johnson and Theresa May.

Following a tradition for important documents, the agreement was signed in Downing Street with a Parker pen.

Its signing, both in London and at a “low-key” ceremony in Brussels, means the UK and EU can now focus on a future relationship.

Mr Johnson said: “We can now move forward as one country – with a Government focused upon delivering better public services, greater opportunity and unleashing the potential of every corner of our brilliant United Kingdom, while building a strong new relationship with the EU as friends and sovereign equals.”

Mr Charles Michel, President of the European Council, said that “things will inevitably change but our friendship will remain”.

He added: “We start a new chapter as partners and allies.”