Johnson set for Brussels battle
Boris Johnson is on course to take the United Kingdom out of the European Union at the end of next month, after MPs approved his Brexit deal by a large majority.
The prime minister’s withdrawal agreement cleared its second reading in the House of Commons yesterday by 358 votes to 234, in a clear demonstration of how the British parliament’s dynamics have been transformed by last week’s election result.
Only six Labour MPs defied leader Jeremy Corbyn and voted with the government, but a further 32 either abstained or were absent.
In calling on parliament to back his deal on the final sitting day before Christmas, Johnson set the scene for difficulties with the EU in trade talks. He said that the ‘‘sovereign British people will be masters of their own fate’’.
He said the divorce deal ‘‘paves the way for a new agreement on our future relationship with our European neighbours, based on an ambitious free trade agreement . . . with no alignment on EU rules, but instead control of our own laws’’.
Charles Michel, the new president of the European Council, instantly raised the issue of commitments that Britain would have to make as part of a trade deal to reassure Brussels that there would be fair competition. ‘‘A level playing field remains a must for any future relationship.’’
Opening the debate, Johnson promised to ‘‘reunite the country’’, saying that now was the time to ‘‘begin the healing’’ and ‘‘finally get Brexit done’’.
Pressed on his decision to rule out extending the transition period beyond December 2020, he resorted to metaphors ranging from the Peanuts cartoon to Prometheus in Greek mythology.
‘‘This bill learns the emphatic lesson of the last parliament and rejects any further delay,’’ he said.
‘‘The oven is on, so to speak, it is set at gas mark 4, we can have it done by lunchtime, or late lunch.’’
Johnson was challenged by Lisa Nandy, the Labour MP for Wigan who is expected to run in the party’s leadership contest, who criticised him for removing protections for child refugees from his Brexit bill. Johnson replied: ‘‘We remain absolutely committed to ensuring that we continue in this country to receive unaccompanied children, as we have done.’’