After all the parliamentary drama of the past four and a half years, the final Commons phase of Brexit is passing with remarkably little drama. Boris Johnson knows his agreement will be voted through this afternoon and, following the European Research Group decision, with nearly universal Tory support.
Johnson’s speech was upbeat, as he sought to declare the deal a triumph. He pointed to the exclusion of any role for the European Court of Justice, the speed with which the deal had been done and the fact it was zero tariff, zero quota. In a sign of the fight to come, Johnson had to fend off multiple points of order from Ian Blackford, the leader of the Scottish National Party, who sought to critique the compromise on fishing.
Johnson is Tory leader and Prime Minister because of Brexit. In a sign of how much he would like it to be an issue at the next election, he jabbed at Keir Starmer with the line ‘we got Brexit done, let’s keep Brexit done.’ There is nothing the Tories would like more than for Starmer to commit to renegotiating this deal.
As with his press conference on the day of the deal, Johnson was keen to stress that this is the beginning of a new relationship between the UK and the EU, not a rupture. He said that the UK would be ‘the best friend and ally the EU could have.’ The question now is whether the UK and the EU can keep their eyes on the big picture or whether the relationship turns into a fight over who gets to use the rebalancing clause first.
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