Queen Elizabeth Calls on U.K. to Reconcile in Christmas Address

(Bloomberg) -- Queen Elizabeth II will urge Britons to “overcome long-held differences” less than two weeks after a bitterly-fought general election offered an end to three-and-a-half years of political deadlock over Brexit.

The monarch will use her annual Christmas Day message to pay tribute to veterans of D-Day, the 1944 operation which led to the liberation of western Europe. Describing events to mark the invasion’s 75th anniversary, she will urge people to adopt the spirit of reconciliation shown as “those who had formerly been sworn enemies came together in friendly commemorations,” according to extracts of the address released by her office.

“By being willing to put past differences behind us and move forward together, we honor the freedom and democracy once won for us at so great a cost,” she will say. “The path, of course, is not always smooth, and may at times this year have felt quite bumpy, but small steps can make a world of difference.”

The message comes as the U.K.’s political paralysis since the 2016 Brexit referendum appears to have ended. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservatives won a large majority on Dec. 12 after promising to get Britain out of the European Union by the end of January.

The first vote on Johnson’s proposed Brexit deal comfortably passed in the House of Commons on Friday, and Members of Parliament are scheduled to resume debate on the legislation in early January.

This is not the first time the Queen has called for unity. In her 2018 address, the monarch urged the British people to be respectful of one another while referencing “deeply-held divisions.” She did not explicitly mention Brexit then, nor is she expected to this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Ritchie in Edinburgh at gritchie10@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Thomas Penny, Alex Morales

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