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Boris Johnson has said that the fate of the UK “now rests firmly in our hands” as its Brexit trade deal passed Parliament and went into effect.
It comes after MPs overwhelmingly approved of the deal to pave the way for the UK-EU deal to come into effect today at 11pm, as the current Brexit transition period ends, during which the UK has continued to abide by EU rules.
In a statement after the deal was passed by Parliament, Johnson said: “I want to thank my fellow MPs and colleagues for passing this historic bill and would like to express my gratitude to all staff here in Parliament and throughout the government. that he has made possible today.
“The fate of this great country now rests firmly in our hands. We undertake this duty with a sense of purpose and with the interests of the British public at the center of everything we do.
“11:00 pm on December 31 marks a new beginning in the history of our country and a new relationship with the EU as its greatest ally. This moment has finally arrived and now is the time to seize it.”
Boris Johnson formally signed the EU-UK trade agreement in Downing Street. Photo: Andrew Parsons / Number 10
The House of Commons backed the deal, reached between the prime minister and the EU on Christmas Eve, by 521 votes to 73, a majority of 448.
The deal, which runs to 1,246 pages and covers a commercial value of £ 660bn, later received a third unopposed reading in the House of Lords.
The Speaker of the Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, told deputies that the queen granted royal consent to the act.
Less than an hour after the vote, Johnson added his formal signature to the EU-UK trade deal in Downing Street.
The documents had been flown to London on an RAF plane after being signed by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in Brussels on Wednesday morning.
Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer had ordered his party to vote in favor of the deal, arguing that the alternative would be for the UK to leave the Brexit transition period without an EU trade deal.
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Starmer: ‘Against no agreement, we accept this deal’
However, it suffered a rebellion that led to two minor shadow ministers, Helen Hayes and Tonia Antoniazzi, announcing that they were resigning their positions on the Labor Front bench as they could not support the deal.
A Labor MP, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, voted against the deal while 36 other Labor MPs did not register any votes, suggesting that they had abstained.
Among them was Ms Hayes, who stepped down from her shadow cabinet post after choosing not to support the official Labor Party position.
Meanwhile, two former Conservative cabinet ministers, Brexiters Owen Paterson and John Redwood, also refrained from rebelling against the prime minister.
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‘A New Beginning’ When Prime Minister Signs Trade Agreement With EU
During more than four hours of debate on the deal, former Prime Minister Theresa May criticized Sir Keir for not supporting her efforts in negotiations with the EU last year, when he was shadow Brexit secretary.
She told the now Labor leader: “He said he wanted a better deal; he had the opportunity in early 2019 when there was an opportunity for a better deal on the table and he voted against it.”
Ms. May welcomed Mr. Johnson’s agreement, but suggested that Brussels would be favored under the terms of the agreement.
“We have a trade agreement that benefits the EU, but not a services agreement that would have benefited the UK,” he added.
The House of Commons announces the result of the vote on the Brexit deal
All other opposition parties opposed the deal, including the DUP, which backed Brexit but opposes provisions that mean Northern Ireland will continue to be subject to some EU rules.
Meanwhile, some conservative eurosceptics were jubilant, declaring that the “battle for Brexit” had finally been won.
Conservative eurosceptic Sir Bill Cash compared the prime minister to ancient Greek statesman Pericles and Alexander the Great, adding that Johnson had “saved our democracy.”
His conservative colleague Mark Francois, who chairs the Conservative Brexiteers European Research Group, claimed that he and his other “Spartans” who support the License could now “lower our spears” in the “battle for Brexit.”
