Boris vows Brexit ‘wrapped for Christmas’

Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised to have the Brexit vote “wrapped up for Christmas” with a second reading of his withdrawal agreement held on Friday afternoon.

Around 2:30pm London time the newly-elected house will vote on the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) bill that will ensure Britian’s exit from the EU.

It means the deal Mr Johnson negotiated with the EU will be implemented, and includes a provision that the implementation period cannot be extended beyond 31 January 2020.

Ahead of the vote, Mr Johnson said: “Today we will deliver on the promise we made to the people and get the Brexit vote wrapped up for Christmas.

“Now MPs will start the process of passing the bill. Then, at the beginning of the new decade, at the beginning of a new dawn for our country, our parliamentarians will return to Westminster to immediately finish the job, take us out of the EU on 31st January and move this country forward.

“After years of delay and rancour in parliament, we will deliver certainty and hardworking businesses and people across this country will have a firm foundation on which to plan for the future.
 

It comes after Mr Johnson received a majority of 80 seats in the December 12 general election, allowing him to break the deadlock in parliament that has led to three years of delays over the Brexit process.

Opposition MPs have criticised Mr Johnson for removing the ability for parliament to have oversight of the process and for getting rid of key workers’ protections.

It comes after Mr Johnson outlined his legislative agenda for the new government on Thursday with a Queen’s speech.

Read by her majesty but written by the government, the speech outlined his ambitious program of domestic spending on health and infrastructure as well as a crackdown on terrorist sentencing and law and order.

Mr Johnson has pledged to put voters who “lent” the Conservatives support in the election campaign at the front of his plans for the country after he smashed down Labour’s “red wall” of traditional support in the midlands and north of England.

“This is the moment to repay the trust of those who sent us here by delivering on the people’s priorities with the most radical Queen’s speech for a generation,” he said.

“And this Queen’s speech – of this people’s government – sets in motion a vast interlocking program to unite and level up across the whole United Kingdom and unleash the potential of all our people.”