Brexit trade deal passes House of Commons after quick vote
MPs have voted to pass Boris Johnson’s Brexit trade deal after just five hours, clearing the first hurdle for it to come into law in two days’ time.
The Brexit vote was passed by 521 to 73.
The bill was introduced to the House of Commons at 9.30am and will be rushed through both houses of parliament today, with Downing Street expecting the Queen to give it Royal Assent around midnight.
The EU’s 27 national ambassadors have already voted to ratify the deal, meaning it will come into place on 1 January when the UK leaves the EU’s single market and customs union.
The Prime Minister opened the debate by saying that the 1 January would herald “a new chapter in our national story”.
“Those of us who campaigned for Britain to leave the EU never sought a rupture with our closest neighbours,” he said.
“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.
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“Now, with this Bill, we are going to become 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.”
The bill was passed with the assistance of the vast majority of Labour MPs, after party leader Sir Keir Starmer decided to whip in favour of the trade deal.
The Scottish National Party, the Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) all voted against the deal or abstained.
Starmer said the deal was “thin”, but that it was far better than the alternative – a no-deal Brexit.
“People voting ‘no’ today want ‘yes’,” he said.
“They want others to save them from their own vote.
“That’s the truth of the situation and that’s why my party has taken a different path.”
Former Prime Minister Theresa May voted for the deal, but said it was worse than hers and that she was “disappointed” it did not include a financial services agreement.
“In 2018 in Mansion house, I said that we wanted to work to get a financial services deal in the future treaty arrangement and that it would be truly groundbreaking,” she said.
“It would have been, but sadly it has not been achieved. We have a deal in trade which benefits the EU, but not a deal in services that would have benefited the UK.
“The arrangement treaty is clear that future negotiation on these points is possible and I hope the government will go to the negotiations with alacrity and vigour, particularly on financial services.”