U.K. Speeds Toward Brexit as Johnson Wins Key Vote on His Deal
Johnson’s Brexit Bill Clears First Hurdle in U.K. Parliament
(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal easily cleared its first Parliamentary hurdle on Friday, setting the U.K. on a fast-track course to leave the European Union in six weeks.
The House of Commons voted 358 to 234 in favor of the government’s EU Withdrawal Agreement Bill on Friday -- the first demonstration of Johnson’s power over Parliament since he won an emphatic victory in the Dec. 12 general election.
After three years of division following the Brexit referendum of 2016, the prime minister appealed for unity as the U.K. heads out of the EU on Jan 31.
“Now is the time to act together as one reinvigorated nation, one United Kingdom, filled with renewed confidence in our national destiny, and determined at last to take advantage of the opportunities that now lie before us,” he said, as he opened the debate. “This bill and this juncture in our national story must not be seen as a victory for one party over another or one faction over another. This is the time we move and discard the old labels of leave and remain.”
Johnson’s newly won majority allowed him to break through the gridlock and political turmoil that has dominated British politics since the 2016 referendum. Before the election his minority government repeatedly lost votes on Brexit and he even tried to suspend parliament to stop lawmakers blocking his plans. MPs later voted to speed the remaining stages of the bill through the House of Commons over three days after the Christmas recess.
Johnson repeated his claim that Brexit will be “done” on Jan. 31, but he will still need to negotiate a long-term trade deal with the EU, which the proposed legislation says must be completed by the end of 2020. Opposition MPs warned him that’s a bigger challenge as it will give him only 11 months to reach an agreement.
Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn said such a strict end to the agreed transition period with the EU would leave the U.K. at risk of ending up with no deal at all with its biggest trading partner.
“This deal does not bring certainty for communities or for business or the workforce. In fact, it does the opposite, and hard-wires the risk of a no-deal Brexit next year,” he said. “We warned before the general election the Prime Minister’s Brexit deal was a terrible deal for our country, and we still believe it’s a terrible deal today.”
There were also signs that Tory Brexiteers will continue to put pressure on Johnson over the shape of the future deal. Former Trade Secretary Liam Fox said the U.K. must be free of EU regulations and cautioned against any plans for alignment with the bloc’s rules in return for access to its single market after Brexit.
And Jeffrey Donaldson, Westminster leader of Northern Ireland’s Brexit-backing Democratic Unionist Party, who kept Johnson’s predecessor Theresa May in power but have described Johnson’s deal as a betrayal, said it threatens to undermine the region’s economy and fragile peace process.
Checks on goods crossing the Irish Sea would undermine the union of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, he told lawmakers. “Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom and I want the prime minister to treat my part in the same way as the other parts in terms of leaving the European Union,” he said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Jessica Shankleman in London at jshankleman@bloomberg.net;Greg Ritchie in London at gritchie10@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Thomas Penny
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