Johnson gets ready to meet new MPS – and to introduce his Brexit bill

● Tory landslide allows PM to do this before Christmas ● Cummings ‘working on radical overhaul of Civil Service’

Boris Johnson is to address his new intake of Tory MPS as they prepare to vote on his Brexit deal.

The Prime Minister will welcome the 109 newly elected colleagues, many of them from former Labour areas across the north and Midlands, to the House of Commons today.

Mr Johnson will use his majority of 80 to get his Withdrawal Agreement Bill (Wab) to implement Brexit approved so the UK can formally leave the EU by the end of January.

The PM has pledged to bring the bill back before the Commons before Christmas but it is not yet known when MPS will begin voting on it.

Ahead of the private speech, a Number 10 source said: “This election and the new generation of MPS that have resulted from Labour towns turning blue will help change our politics for the better.

“The PM has been very clear that we have a responsibility to deliver a better future for our country and that we must repay the public’s trust by getting Brexit done.

“That’s why the first piece of legislation new MPS will vote on will be the Withdrawal Agreement Bill.”

It is expected to be an eventful week in Westminster, with a government reshuffle on the cards and the swearing-in of MPS to begin tomorrow.

The Queen will formally open Parliament on Thursday when she sets out the government’s legislative programme during a slimmed-down State Opening.

Approving the Withdrawal Agreement Bill will not mean the Brexit saga is over. The UK will remain in the EU until at least the end of 2020 during the implementation period.

This time will be used by Brussels and London to hammeroutatradedealanddecide on their future relationship on subjects such as security.

But EU figures have been highly sceptical this can be sorted within the year, with chief negotiator Michel Barnier saying the timetable was “unrealistic” in leaked comments.

Senior Cabinet member Michael Gove, who is the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, tried to dismiss these fears.

He said he is “confident” the agreement could be finalised by the deadline because “quite a lot of the details” are agreed in the Political Declaration agreed with the EU.

Mr Johnson is not the only leader who will be welcoming a new intake of MPS today. The SNP’S Westminster leader Ian Blackford is also expected to meet his new colleagues.

This will demonstrate one of the greatest problems the PM is expected to face – Nicola

Sturgeon’s party will be making intensifying demands for a fresh Scottish independence referendum.

Scotland largely voted against Brexit and the SNP increased its share of Scottish seats in the Commons to 47 out of a total of 59 in Thursday’s general election.

Another pro-independence MP, Neale Hanvey, took the Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath seat but is currently suspended by the party over allegations of antisemitism.

He will sit as an independent MP until a disciplinary process is completed.

Ms Sturgeon insisted the Tories were “raging against reality” by blocking another independence vote as she vowed to “pursue the plan I won a mandate for.

But Mr Gove said the Conservatives would “absolutely” not hold another public vote on the matter during the course of the Parliament, regardless of the result of the 2021 Holyrood election.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister’s chief adviser Dominic Cummings was reported to be preparing a radical overhaul of the Civil Service to ensure it delivers on Mr Johnson’s agenda.

This comes after Mr Johnson used a highly symbolic visit on Saturday to Tony Blair’s old Sedgefield constituency to promise to repay the trust of traditional Labour voters who turned for the first time to the Conservatives in the election.

The County Durham seat was part of a previously solid “red wall” of safe Labour seats across the north and Midlands of England and north Wales which turned blue on Thursday night, helping the Conservatives to establish a crushing Commons majority of 80.

A No 10 source said: “This election was as much about delivering on the people’s priorities as it was about getting Brexit done – and the Prime Minister understands that.

“We will show the public, especially Labour voters who trusted us with their vote, that we will deliver on the promises we made on helping with the cost of living, tackling crime and supporting our NHS.”

‘This election was as much about delivering on the people’s priorities as about getting Brexit done – and the Prime Minister understands that’

NO 10 SOURCE