Boris Johnson set to welcome lawmakers, get Brexit rolling

Government plans to introduce the EU withdrawal Bill on Friday

December 16, 2019 10:01 pm | Updated 10:01 pm IST

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is ready to give a pep talk on Monday to a new group of Conservative Party lawmakers as he begins his push to secure parliamentary approval for his Brexit deal.

Mr. Johnson will welcome 109 newly elected colleagues, many of them coming from parts of the country that were once strongholds of the opposition Labour Party.

Buoyed by the Conservatives’ win in last week’s election, Mr. Johnson will move fast to deliver on his campaign mantra to “get Brexit done.” That means ensuring a Brexit withdrawal agreement Bill is passed in time for the U.K. to complete its historic departure from the European Union by the current deadline of January 31.

Mr. Johnson’s spokesman James Slack said the government will introduce the EU withdrawal Bill on Friday. It will be up to the Speaker of the House of Commons to determine if Parliament will hold its first major vote on the Bill that same day or will wait until January after the Christmas recess.

The Brexit divorce Bill is expected to receive strong support in Parliament, where Mr. Johnson’s Conservatives hold a strong majority. The party won 365 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons in Thursday’s landslide election.

If the Bill passes and Britain leaves the EU on time, the country will enter a transition period when EU rules and regulations would still apply in the country and people and goods would still be able to pass freely between the U.K. and the remaining EU members.

Negotiators for the government and the EU would start trade talks with an eye toward a post-Brexit agreement. Queen Elizabeth II will formally open Parliament on Thursday with a speech outlining legislative programme. The pomp and ceremony surrounding the queen’s speech will be less lavish than usual because she last formally opened Parliament just two months ago for a session cut short by the vote to hold an early election.

New lawmakers took to Twitter to chronicle their first day at work.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.