[ad_1]
MPs and their peers will begin their Christmas holidays on Thursday night, the government announced, amid waning hopes that a Brexit deal will be reached in time to be approved in parliament next week.
As talks on trade and security continue in Brussels amid signs of progress and compromise, ministers had considered stipulating that parliament should meet on Monday and Tuesday to allow legislation implementing a deal to pass quickly.
However, the government has signaled that the Christmas break will begin on Thursday, and Downing Street sources have suggested that a deal is not expected to be finalized imminently.
However, the measure does not prevent parliament from being revoked before January if an agreement is reached, a process that generally requires a 48-hour notice. A spokesperson for No. 10 said: “That recall could be as early as next week.”
Alternatively, passage of a bill could be rushed between Christmas and New Years, with probably the support of the Labor Party.
With Boris Johnson looking more optimistic about the prospects for a deal, some in Westminster interpreted the decision to go ahead with the parliamentary recess as a piece of political theater on the road to a deal.
Early Wednesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned the European Parliament that the tense fish issue could still derail talks, saying the deal was “so close but still … so far away.”
A spokesperson for No. 10 said that three bills needed to pave the way for the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31 would have passed through all its parliamentary stages on Thursday night.
“In the absence of more important business, we will go into recess tomorrow, subject to customary House approval [Thursday], but with the knowledge that we will remind parliamentarians and peers to legislate for an agreement if one is achieved, ”said the spokesperson.
A Labor spokesman said: “Boris Johnson should continue to deliver the deal he said was ‘oven ready’ rather than drag the country to the wire.”
