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European Union

UK Parliament to Vote on Brexit Bill Amid COVID-19 Crisis

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will present the UK's EU trade deal to the House of Commons, arguing that it provides the best chance for Britain to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. The deal has been backed by the European Research Group of Eurosceptic MPs, who claim it preserves the UK's sovereignty, including future fisheries policy. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has pledged his support in the "national interest", but opposition parties, including the SNP, Liberal Democrats, and DUP, plan to vote against the bill.

Key Takeaways:

  • The UK's EU trade deal has been backed by the European Research Group of Eurosceptic MPs, who believe it preserves the UK's sovereignty, including future fisheries policy.
  • The deal temporarily limits the exercise of the UK's sovereign rights over its waters, but the UK will have the legal right to take full control of its waters at the end of the fishing transition period.
  • Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has pledged his support for the bill in the "national interest", despite opposition from some members.
  • The SNP, Liberal Democrats, and DUP plan to vote against the bill.
  • Haltemprice and Howden MP David Davis believes MPs need more time to study the implications of the trade deal.
  • The Commons will spend five hours scrutinising the 80-page EU (Future Relationship) Bill, while peers will debate the legislation late into the evening.
  • Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to say that the landmark law demonstrates "how Britain can be at once European and sovereign" from New Year's Eve.

Statistics:

  • The UK has achieved trade deals with 63 countries since leaving the EU.
  • The Brexit bill is an 80-page document.
  • The Commons will spend five hours scrutinising the bill.
  • The fishing transition period has not been specified in the original text.
  • The bill has an expected duration of one day, although peers will sit late into the evening.

Sources:

  • "PRIME MINISTER Boris Johnson will today tell MPs that Britain's trade deal with the European Union 'provides the best chance' of beating coronavirus and ensuring the UK emerges from the grip of the pandemic." (Text)
  • "The European Research Group of leading Eurosceptics convened a so-called star chamber' of lawyers to study the EU trade deal." (Text)
  • "We have done this in less than a year, in the teeth of a pandemic, and we have pressed ahead with this task, resisting all calls for delay, precisely because creating certainty about our future provides the best chance of beating Covid and bouncing back even more strongly next year," he will also tell Parliament. (Text)

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