The House of Commons approves the Boris Brexit deal

The opposition could have toppled PM Boris Johnson when he was the head of a minority government. The opposition could have imposed a referendum, offering the choice between the Boris Brexit deal and Remain. That would have been a democratic way of giving the people the last word on the matter.

Because of the opposition’s incompetence and indecision, the people have spoken at the ballot box. On December 12, roughly 43.6% of the 67.3% of voters who went to the polls gave the Tories 365 out of 650 seats in the House of Commons.

Today, the newly elected House of Commons with its large Tory majority approved the Boris Brexit deal aka the EU Withdrawal Agreement Bill with 358 to 234 votes. The UK will leave the EU on January 31, 2020.

Here some extracts of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s House of Commons speech given before the Lower House of the UK Parliament voted in favor of his EU Withdrawal Agreement Bill:

“I beg to move that the bill be read a second time and that we come together as a new Parliament, to break the deadlock and finally to get Brexit done.

Now is the moment — as we leave the European Union — to reunite our country and allow the warmth and natural affection that we all share with our European neighbours — to find renewed expression in one great new national project of building a deep, special and democratically accountable partnership with those nations we are proud to call our closest friends.

Because this bill, and this juncture in our national story, Mr Speaker must not be seen as a victory for one party or one faction over another.

This is the time when we move on and discard the old labels of leave and remain … now is the time to act together as one reinvigorated nation, one United Kingdom, filled with renewed confidence in our national destiny,and determined at last to take advantage of the opportunities that now lie before us.

… The bill ensures that the implementation period must end on December 31 next year — with no possibility of an extension.

And it paves the way for a new agreement on our future relationship with our European neighbours, based on an ambitious free trade agreement, with no alignment on EU rules, but instead control of our own laws, and close and friendly relations.

… And the new deal that I negotiated with our European friends will restore our great institutions to their rightful place as the supreme instruments of British self-governance.

Once again this house will be the only assembly able to legislate for this United Kingdom. British courts will be the sole arbiters of those laws.

And above them all, the sovereign British people masters of their own fate, controlling their own borders, laws, money and trade.

And throughout our new immigration system, we will not only welcome those with talent but go out of our way to attract people of ability regardless of nationality or background.

And we are only able to do this because the freedoms offered by our European Union partners — by leaving the EU— allow us once again to control overall numbers and bear down on unskilled immigration with our new points-based system.

… We will cast off the common agricultural policy that has too often frustrated and burdened our farmers we will release our fishermen from the tangled driftnets of arcane quota systems …

I remind the House and I remind the members opposite that there is of course on party in this House that is committed to reversing will of the people and handing back control of Scotland’s outstanding marine wealth to Brussels — the SNP. That’s what they would do.

This new deal in this bill ensures that the United Kingdom will leave the EU whole and entire with an unwavering dedication to Northern Ireland’s place in our union … Let me just remind the House Mr Speaker that the special provisions applying to Northern Ireland — which ensure after all one very important thing — that there is no hard border across Ireland and Northern Ireland are subject to the consent of the Northern Ireland assembly.

And unless the assembly specifically withholds its consent unless indeed the assembly insists on continuing with this approach then those arrangements automatically lapse into full alignment with the rest of the UK.

I believe these arrangements serve the interests of Northern Ireland and the UK as a whole. And it is a great deal for our whole country. And we must now begin building our future relationship with the EU.

Our aim is to provide a close friendship, between sovereign equals, to promote our common interests inspired by pride in our European heritage and civilisation.

And Clause 3 of the political declaration invokes that spirit — establishing — and I quote “the parameters of an ambitious, broad, deep and flexible partnership” rooted in our shared “history and ideals” and “standing together against threats to rights and values from without or within”.

I am absolutely determined that this great project will not be the project of one government or one party but of the British nation as a whole.

… Now is the moment to come together and write a new and exciting chapter in our national story to forge a new partnership with our European friends to stand tall in the world and to begin the healing for which the whole people of this country yearn.

And it is in that spirit of unity that I commend this bill to the House.”

Beauty items at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

Article added on December 12, 2019 at 19:36 German time.

Boris Johnson (official photo as Foreign Secretary). Photo credit: www.gov.uk

P.S. added at 20:11 German time: Groundhog Day: With the unrealistic December 2020 deadline set for the end of negotiations with the EU, a No-Deal-Brexit can once again not be excluded. Of course, Boris wants to put pressure on the EU negotiators, but you never know how this might end.

P.S. 2 added on December 21, 2019 at 23:34 and updated at 23:50 German time: Brino: Another scenario is possible too. Officially, Boris Johnson has delivered the Brexit his supporters were expecting from him. In reality, nothing has happened so far. It all depends on the details to be negotiated with the EU. He could deliver a Brexit-in-name-only aka Brino. Boris, with his chutzpah, might get away with it. In other words, from a No-Deal Brexit to a Brino, all options are still on the table.