Brexit deal vote: What is the Withdrawal Agreement Bill? Is it different to Boris’s deal?
Prime Minister Boris Johnson had hoped to put his withdrawal agreement to a vote on Saturday, but any amendments which would see the required legislation written first thwarted the plan. Now, Whitehall has worked around the clock to prepare the withdrawal agreement bill (WAB), with the hopes of convincing enough MPs to “get Brexit done”.
What is Boris Johnson’s new deal?
Mr Johnson’s Brexit deal is mostly the same as the one negotiated by his predecessor, but with a few notable changes.
Both the EU and UK agreed they wanted to avoid the return of a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland after Brexit, but the UK insisted the backstop must be dropped.
The new deal replaces the backstop with amended plans on customs, regulation on goods, VAT and Northern Ireland’s consent.
You can read more HERE about what the deal entails.
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How is the WAB different?
The WAB is tricky for the Government as it puts into black and white some controversial topics which can be breezed over in political communications but now have to laid out clearly.
Among other things, the WAB covers:
> Exactly how the UK will make “divorce bill” payments to the EU for years to come
> It will have to make sure that parts of EU law continue to apply in the UK for as long as a post-Brexit transition period lasts
> It will contain language on how the new protocol on Ireland – setting up a customs and regulatory border between Northern Ireland and Great Britain – will work in practice
> It will set out areas in which the European Court of Justice still plays a role in the UK, and make the withdrawal agreement in some respects “supreme” over other areas of UK law
What are the polls showing?
As the nation will have come to expect, the polls look vastly different on the Leave and Remain side of the camp.
These statistics are all provided by YouGov, from a poll conducted between October 17 and 18 of 1,609 British adults.
According to the poll, Leave voters now prefer the option of Boris Johnson’s deal to no deal at all.
Of the Leave voters who were familiar with the details of the deal, the poll showed two thirds – 67 percent – think Parliament should vote to accept the new Brexit deal.
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And Leave voters now prefer Boris Johnson’s deal over a no deal, 48 to 33 percent.
This is a significant jump from the deal as negotiated under Theresa May.
Remainers have changed their tune since Theresa May’s deal too, but those opposing Brexit are more firmly opposed to Mr Johnson’s deal than they were Mrs May’s.
Just 24 percent of Remain voters think MPs should vote to accept the deal, with 41 percent thinking it should be rejected.
Remain voters are also firmly opposed to the option of a no deal, would prefer MPs to accept this deal over no deal, but want Brexit to be revoked above all.
The Labour Party is proposing some amendments to the withdrawal agreement which would likely win support as they would more closely align the deal to a softer Brexit.
The first proposed amendment would keep Britain tied to the EU custom’s union, and the second would set up a second referendum.
The customs union amendment seems to be garnering an increasing amount of support.
However, the Government is vehemently opposed to a customs union and would not accept a deal so amended.
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