UK MPs approve Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal

December 20, 2019

After the Conservative Party won the majority of seats in the General Election, Boris Johnson’s government reintroduced the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill, which would see the UK leave the EU on January 31, 2020. MPs voted to pass it by 358 votes to 234.

The bill would also ban an extension of the transition period – during which the UK is out of the EU but follows many of its rules – past 2020.

Earlier, Boris Johnson argued that it would allow the UK to “move forward”.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told his MPs to vote against it, saying there was “a better and fairer way” to leave the EU.

The government insists a trade deal with the EU can be in place by the end of the transition period, but critics say this timescale is unrealistic.