Johnson’s Brexit Deal Clears Parliament With Only Hours to Spare

(Bloomberg) — Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s post-Brexit trade deal won approval from the U.K. Parliament barely 24 hours before the country’s final split from the European Union.

The House of Lords gave the green light to the agreement late Wednesday, just a day before the U.K. leaves the EU single market when the Brexit transition period expires.

Earlier, members of the House of Commons passed the legislation that turns the treaty into British law by a large majority.

The rush to get the deal through Parliament in a single day brings to an end a four-year saga that has gripped British politics. Since the referendum vote in June 2016, the turmoil over Brexit has forced two prime ministers to resign, roiled markets, and seen the country’s relationship with its biggest trading partner radically redefined.

It gives Johnson a domestic victory as he faces a resurgent coronavirus that has already inflicted the deepest recession for more than 300 years and now threatens to overwhelm the country’s National Health Service.

It also removes the threat of a final chaotic split with the EU when the U.K. leaves the bloc’s single market and customs union at 11 p.m. on Dec. 31.

The accord will allow for zero-tariff, zero-quota trade in goods between Britain and the EU — but very limited provisions for services firms, which account for 80% of the U.K. economy. Businesses will also face additional costs in the form of new paperwork and the threat of disruption at the border.

The agreement — struck late on Christmas Eve — was signed on Wednesday by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel, before being flown to London to be inked by Johnson.

Opening the debate in the Commons, the prime minister said the deal will allow Britain to “trade and cooperate” with other European countries, while retaining “sovereign control of our laws and destiny.”

‘New Chapter’

“We are going to open a new chapter in our national story,” he said. “The responsibility now rests with all of us to make the best use of the powers we’ve regained.”

After five hours of debate, the House of Commons voted to pass the legislation by 521 votes to 73.

The prime minister not only won the support of a prominent group of hard-line Brexiters in his Conservative Party, but he was also helped by the main opposition Labour Party, which backed the bill.

“We have only one day before the end of the transition period, and it’s the only deal that we have,” Labour Leader Keir Starmer said. “Ultimately, voting to implement this treaty is the only way to ensure we avoid no-deal.”

The Scottish National Party attacked the agreement, saying it will harm Scotland’s fishing industry, and told Johnson it will bolster the case for independence.

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