UK PARTIES PROMISE END TO BREXIT AGONY IF THEY WIN POLLS

LONDON: Britain’s three major political parties wooed weary voters on Tuesday, all promising an end to Brexit wrangling if they win next month’s national election - but offering starkly different visions of how to achieve that.

PM Boris Johnson says if his Conservative Party wins the December 12 polls, he will get parliament to ratify his divorce deal with the EU and Britain will leave the bloc by January 31.

Labour Party says it will take six months to end the uncertainty triggered by voters’ decision in 2016 to leave the 28-nation EU after more than four decades of membership.

Left-of-center Labour says if it wins, within six months it will negotiate a new Brexit divorce deal that keeps close relations between Britain and the EU, then hold a national referendum on whether to leave on those terms or remain in the bloc.

The centrist, pro-eu Liberal Democrats are trying to lure voters away from the bigger parties with a promise to scrap Brexit.

HOYLE BECOMES COMMONS SPEAKER Long-serving Labour Party lawmaker Lindsay Hoyle was elected speaker of Britain’s House of Commons on Monday. Hoyle was chosen by lawmakers from among seven candidates to replace Bercow.

GOVT DENIES COVERING UP RUSSIA PROBE Johnson’s government rejected charges on Tuesday of suppressing a potentially explosive report into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 Brexit referendum.

Top lawmakers in both houses are raising concern over the timing of the government study’s release.