Boris Johnson: Brexit deal is ‘glad tidings of great joy’

The Prime Minister says the agreement will “open a new chapter in our national story” when the UK leaves the European Union for good with the tolling bells of Big Ben at 11pm tomorrow night (Dec 31). In what promises to be a truly momentous day in Westminster Mr Johnson will crash the EU Future Relationship Bill through both the House of Commons and Lords in just one day. Tory Brexiteers have announced their support for the deal meaning it should sail through parliament without any hiccups. It will then be given Royal Assent before being enshrined in law.

The Prime Minister will also officially sign the official trade deal agreement in 10 Downing Street.

In his opening statement to the House of Commons Mr Johnson will hail the deal – which he dramatically agreed with the EU on Christmas Eve – something which the British people “always knew in their hearts could be done”.

“This Bill embodies our vision,shared with our European neighbours, of a new relationship between Britain and the EU as sovereign equals, joined by friendship, commerce, history, interests and values, while respecting one another’s freedom of action and recognising that we have nothing to fear if we sometimes choose to do things differently and much to gain from the healthy stimulus of competition,” he will say.

“This Bill demonstrates how Britain can be at once European and sovereign.”

Mr Johnson will praise the “astonishing speed” in which the deal was struck “in the teeth of a pandemic”.

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And he will say that getting the deal done on time provides the best chance of beating Covid and “bouncing back even more strongly next year.”

Mr Johnson will trumpet Britain’s new standing as a global trading superpower with Britain having already secured £900 billion in trade agreements – including a colossal £660 billion deal with the EU – since Brexit day on January 31.

“We will now open a new chapter in our national story, striking free trade deals around the world, adding to the agreements with 63 countries we have already achieved, and reasserting Global Britain as a liberal, outward-looking force for good,” he will tell MPs.

“Those of us who campaigned for Britain to leave the EU never sought a rupture with our closest neighbours. We would never wish to rupture ourselves from fellow democracies beneath whose soil lie British war graves in tranquil cemeteries, often tended by local schoolchildren, testament to our shared struggle for freedom and everything we cherish in common.

“What we sought was not a rupture but a resolution, a resolution of the old and vexed question of Britain’s political relations with Europe, which bedevilled our post-War history.

“First we stood aloof, then we became a half-hearted, sometimes obstructive member of the EU.

“Now, with this Bill, we shall be a friendly neighbour – the best friend and ally the EU could have – working hand-in-glove whenever our values and interests coincide while fulfilling the sovereign wish of the British people to live under their own laws, made by their own elected Parliament.

“That is the historic resolution delivered by this Bill.”

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Any stumbling blocks to Bill passing through parliament were removed yesterday (Tue) when hardline Brexiteers gave their thumbs up to the deal, concluding it “preserves the UK’s sovereignty”.

The European Research Group of Conservative MPs had reserved its judgement on the UK’s agreement with Brussels while its “Star Chamber” of legal experts pored over the 1,246 page trade deal document.

But the ERG said in a statement that it believes the deal “fully respects the norms of international sovereign-to-sovereign treaties”.

The group’s statement said: “Our overall conclusion is that the Agreement preserves the UK’s sovereignty as a matter of law and fully respects the norms of international sovereign-to-sovereign treaties.

“The ‘level playing field’ clauses go further than in comparable trade agreements, but their impact on the practical exercise of sovereignty is likely to be limited if addressed by a robust government.

“In any event they do not prevent the UK from changing its laws as it sees fit at a risk of tariff countermeasures, and if those were unacceptable the Agreement could be terminated on 12 months’ notice.”

The passage of the deal was already viewed as a formality because of the PM’s 80-seat majority and the fact Sir Keir Starmer has told Labour MPs they have to vote for it.

But the support of the ERG represents a significant win for Mr Johnson as he tries to finally put an end to the Conservative Party’s rows over Europe.

MPs and Peers have been recalled from their Christmas break for one day to debate and vote on the Future Relationship Bill.

The debate on the draft legislation in the House of Commons will be opened by Mr Johnson at 9.30am and will be closed by Cabinet Office Secretary Michael Gove at 2.30pm when MPs will be asked to vote on it.

The Bill will then move to the House of Lords, with the debate starting at approximately 3pm.

The Government is hoping that peers will finish their scrutiny of the deal between 10pm and 11pm.

Once the draft legislation clears both houses, MPs and peers will face a short wait for the Bill to be given Royal Assent – the point at which it becomes enshrined in law.

It is thought that could happen either very late tonight (Wed) or in the early hours of Thursday morning.

While the deal is debated in Parliament, the formal copy of the accord will be signed by Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, and Charles Michel, the President of the European Council, in Brussels before it is then flown by an RAF plane to London.

The official document will then be taken to 10 Downing Street, accompanied by UK and EU officials, for Mr Johnson to sign in the afternoon.

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