Boris scrambles to sell Brexit deal to MPs
House of Commons meets to decide on EU agreement today
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson launched a charm offensive yesterday to sell his Brexit deal to sceptical members of parliament, with a looming vote in parliament resting on a knife-edge.
The Conservative leader pulled off a major coup in agreeing a new divorce deal with the European Union (EU) on Thursday, paving the way for him to deliver his promise to leave the bloc on October 31.
But the agreement must still be approved by the House of Commons, which is scheduled to meet for the first time today in 37 years to debate the text — and many MPs are strongly opposed.
Johnson told a Brussels press conference late on Thursday that he was “very confident” of getting the accord through — although analysts suggest the vote could be very tight.
Johnson has no majority among MPs, opposition parties have come out against the deal and even his parliamentary ally, Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), says it cannot support the terms. If the Commons rejects the deal, Johnson will be forced by law to ask the EU to delay Brexit, for what would be the third time. He has said he would rather “die in a ditch” than do so.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker sought to focus MPs’ minds, saying Brussels can see no need to prolong the tortuous threeyear Brexit process.
“There is no choice between Brexit or no Brexit: it’s a choice between deal or no deal,” Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said yesterday.
‘This is our chance’
Johnson took office in July vowing to keep to the October 31 Brexit deadline, deal or no deal. He pledged to renegotiate the most contentious elements of a divorce text agreed by his predecessor Theresa May with Brussels last year, which was rejected by MPs three times.
The compromise deal that was finally struck on Thursday has a new arrangement for keeping open the border between British Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland. “It looks like we are very close to the final stretch,” EU Council President Donald Tusk said after the bloc’s leaders endorsed the text.