Brexit: Withdrawal agreement with European Union can now become law

The Prime Minister of Britain Boris Johnson on Tuesday, October 22, cleared the first parliamentary obstacle for his Brexit Bill. British Members of Parliament (MP) backed the bill 329 votes to 299. This effectively means that the British Prime Minister’s withdrawal agreement with the European Union (EU) can now become law, but they are yet to agree to push it through the House of Commons (the lower house of the British Parliament) in three days.

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Johnson threatens to withdraw bill

In a scenario where the British MP’s reject the timetable and the EU offers an extension to the Brexit deadline, the UK PM has threatened to pull the bill and seek a general election instead of delaying the UK withdrawal’s from the EU beyond the October 31 deadline. After publishing the EU Withdrawal Agreement Bill, or the so-called EU divorce bill, on Monday night, UK PM Johnson opened it up for debate by MPs in the House of Commons on Tuesday with plans to hold a vote on a sped-up timetable for its passage by the end of the week.

While Opposition MPs accused him of trying to dash through 110-page legislation without proper scrutiny, Johnson threatened to remove the Bill entirely if his timetable for its passage is rejected and revert to demanding a General Election instead. Johnson addressing the MP’s stated, "I will in no way allow months more of this. If Parliament refuses to allow Brexit to happen and instead... decides to delay everything until January, or possibly longer, in no circumstances then [can] the government continue with this. And with great regret, I must say that the Bill will have to be pulled and we will have to go forward to a general election and I will argue at that election, let's get Brexit done," he declared.

READ | UK PM Publishes Brexit Withdrawal Bill Ahead Of Parliament Session

'Great new deal'

The UK PM had agreed what he termed as a 'great new deal' with the EU last week, which gets rid of the controversial Irish backstop. They had repeatedly voted it down as part of former Prime Minister Theresa May's deal. Under the reviewed deal negotiated by Johnson, Northern Ireland would be subject to limited border checks via an invisible border in the Irish sea with neighbouring EU member-country the Republic of Ireland.

Johnson's biggest challenge yet to come

This proved unpalatable to Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which withdrew its support to Johnson's minority Conservative Party government in a crunch vote over the weekend. This has meant Johnson has struggled to get the numbers required for his agreement to cross the parliamentary threshold. With the new Withdrawal Bill set for its crucial second reading vote later on Tuesday evening, Johnson will be hoping for enough numbers to defect from the Opposition benches to cross the finish line. However, his biggest challenge will come in the form of a second Commons vote soon after, termed the programme motion. This would give Johnson the required backing to rush through the various parliamentary stages involved to see the EU Withdrawal Agreement Bill through in time to meet the October 31 Brexit deadline, without requiring another extension from the EU.

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(With Inputs from PTI)