Signed, sealed ... Brexit at last!
It’ll be delivered on Friday at 11pm
BRITAIN moved a step closer to Brexit last night as Boris Johnson signed the treaty that takes the country out of the EU next week.
At a low-key ceremony in Downing Street, the Prime Minister added his signature to the deal, which was thrashed out with Brussels over weeks of bruising negotiations last autumn.
The document had already been signed by European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Charles Michel in Brussels.
Mr Johnson, whose Brexit deal is now a legally binding international treaty, expressed hope that Britain could build a partnership of ‘equals’ with the EU – and said leaving would allow the country to begin the process of healing its Brexit divisions.
He said: ‘The signing of the Withdrawal Agreement is a fantastic moment, which finally delivers the result of the 2016 referendum and brings to an end far too many years of argument and division.
‘We can now move forward as one country – with a Government focused upon delivering better public services, greater opportunity and unleashing the potential of every corner of our brilliant United Kingdom, while building a strong relationship with the EU as friends and sovereign equals.’
In a further boost, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who is due to visit London today for talks with Chancellor Sajid Javid, talked up the prospects of a post-Brexit trade deal.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, he said: ‘The UK is our number one ally and it would be at the top of the list of trade agreements.
‘We look forward to getting that done this year.’
Yesterday’s treaty signing is the latest in a series of landmarks for a Brexit process that looked in doubt just a year ago. Earlier this week, the Withdrawal Agreement Bill received Royal Assent after being passed by MPs and peers.
The European Parliament is expected to sign it off on Wednesday – two days before Britain leaves at 11pm on January 31.
The treaty process was surrounded by tight security, with the documents transported from Brussels by a team of officials from the EU and Britain. The PM signed the document with a fountain pen at No10, witnessed by EU and Foreign Office officials.
It was then transported back to Brussels to be stored in the EU’s archives. The UK has three ‘certified copies’, one of which will be stored in the Foreign Office’s archive of international treaties.
The EU had demanded ownership of the original treaty.
Tory MPs welcomed the move. Transport minister George Freeman said the signing of the treaty proved ‘democracy is working’ after ‘three years of gridlock’.
But Labour MEP Seb Dance said he would vote it down when the European Parliament rubberstamps it on Wednesday. The Remainer called it ‘the saddest moment in my political career’.
‘Democracy is working’
THE Queen approved it on Thursday. The EU Commission and Council signed it yesterday. The European Parliament will rubber-stamp it on Wednesday.
By Friday, the Withdrawal Agreement will finally be signed, sealed and delivered. After nearly half a century of membership, we will be out of the European Union. This moment marks a considerable personal triumph for Boris Johnson. The cynics who said it would never happen have been routed by his relentless optimism – and voters thoroughly sick of deadlock.
But this is no time for gloating. The last three years of acrimony and conflict have been deeply damaging to our body politic.
Mr Johnson’s primary task is to reunite a fractious nation.
The best way to do that, of course, is to make a success of Brexit. And the omens are good.
Following a slew of excellent economic data last week, the most trusted business confidence index surged to a 16-month high yesterday and non-EU countries are queuing up to do new trade deals.
The tired Leave or Remain arguments are done with. We must put them behind us, reconnect and go forward – together.