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Boris Johnson’s Brexit bill faces its first
vote Friday in the House of Commons as the prime minister seeks to drive the
legislation through Parliament and take the U.K. out of the European Union on
Jan. 31.
After Johnson’s Conservatives swept to victory
in last week’s general election, the vote at about 2:30 p.m. is largely a
formality, because all Tory candidates vowed to back it. The legislation will
then be set to progress through the remaining parliamentary steps in January,
after a Christmas recess.
The Tories’ new 80-seat majority signals an
end to the stalemate that’s hobbled the government since the 2016 Brexit
referendum. By making progress on the divorce before Parliament breaks up,
Johnson aims to show he’s moving quickly to deliver on pledges that swept his
party to electoral wins in seats in northern and central England that haven’t
voted Conservative in decades.
“Today we will deliver on the promise we made
to the people and get the Brexit vote wrapped up for Christmas,” Johnson said
in a statement. “After years of delay and rancor in Parliament, we will
deliver certainty, and hard-working businesses and people across this country
will have a firm foundation on which to plan for the future.”
Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg
late on Thursday said that after Friday’s session, the Brexit Bill will
return to the chamber for debate on Jan. 7, 8 and 9.
In another sign that the wheels of government
are turning again after months of stasis, U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer
SajidJavid is set to formally reveal Friday who will lead the Bank of England
after Brexit, according to people familiar with the matter. The Financial
Times reported late Thursday that Andrew Bailey, the current head of the
Financial Conduct Authority, will take the post.
The prime minister on Thursday heralded a
“golden age” for the U.K., after unveiling what he described as the “most radical”
program of law-making in a generation. The plans, delivered in a speech to
Parliament by Queen Elizabeth II, included a spending boost for the National
Health Service, infrastructure development and a review of the relationship
between government and the courts.
“This is not a program for one year or one
Parliament, it is a blueprint for the future of Britain: Just imagine where
this country could be in 10 years’ time,” Johnson told the House of Commons.
“I do not think it vainglorious or implausible to say that a new golden age
for this United Kingdom is within reach.”
The draft law to be debated Friday is the
Withdrawal Agreement Bill, which will enable the U.K. to leave the EU on Jan.
31 before formally triggering trade talks with the bloc.
The revamped bill, similar to one introduced
to Parliament by Johnson in October, removes provisions for workers’ rights
that were intended to win the support of opposition MPs and strips lawmakers
of much of their say over leaving the bloc. The new bill also removes a say
for MPs over negotiations and stops them from forcing an extension of the
implementation period, which is scheduled to end in December 2020.
Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn said Johnson
was putting jobs, the environment and food standards at risk and accused him
of seeking to “sell out” the National Health Service in a “toxic deal with
Donald Trump.”
Johnson “has now deliberately resurrected the
threat of no deal at the end of next year, which would decimate industry and
destroy people’s jobs,” Corbyn told the House of Commons on Thursday. “We do
not want our NHS given over to U.S. corporations and we don’t want expensive
medicines with extended patents and we don’t want food like chlorinated
chicken on our dinner tables either.”
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