Britain clinches Brexit deal

Brussels, October 17

Britain clinched an eleventh-hour Brexit deal with the EU on Thursday, more than three years after Britons voted in a referendum to leave the bloc, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson still faces a knife-edge vote in parliament to get it approved.

 Johnson believes that lawmakers have to choose between voting for his new Brexit deal or risking a disorderly exit from the EU because delaying the departure is no longer an option, a senior British official said.

“Where there is a will there is a deal - we have one! It’s a fair and balanced agreement for the EU and the UK and it is a testament to our commitment to find solutions,” European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said in a tweet a few hours before the start of an EU summit in Brussels. Juncker said he would recommend that leaders of the other 27 member states approve the deal.

Johnson has no majority in the 650-seat parliament, and in practice needs at least 318 votes to get a deal ratified at what will be the first Saturday session since the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands in 1982. 

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which supports Johnson’s government and has 10 votes, said the new text was not acceptable - a step that could spur hardline Brexiteers in his Conservative party also to oppose ratification absent additional changes.

The Northern Irish party that Johnson needs to help ratify any agreement has refused to support the deal.

The head of the main opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, said in Brussels he was “unhappy” with the deal and would vote against it. Lawmakers in his party said they had been told to vote for another referendum on Saturday.

The parliament defeated similar deals struck by Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May, three times. — Reuters