UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is making a renewed attempt to present his Brexit bill to the UK House of Commons after his party gained a majority in last week's vote.
According to the prime minister's spokesperson, the bill will reflect the agreement made with the EU on Britain's breakaway from the bloc.
Johnson previously presented the bill in October. While the House greenlighted the advancement of the deal to the next stage, it rejected the timetable proposed by the government.
Leading politicians in the Labour Party, still reeling from their worst election result since 1935, have voiced their dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit withdrawal agreement ahead of the vote on the bill’s second reading in the House of Commons on Friday afternoon.
Defeated Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn stressed that the party could not support the agreement, saying that a number of provisions regarding workers’ rights and the United Kingdom’s acceptance of child refugees have been withdrawn from the bill following the Tories’ election victory.
“We warned before the general election, the prime minister’s Brexit deal was a terrible deal for our country and we still believe it’s a terrible deal today,” Corbyn told the Commons.
In particular, Johnson’s new Brexit withdrawal agreement appears to have dropped a provision that outlined that unaccompanied children who have made claims for international protection in a EU member state can travel to the United Kingdom to join a relative.
“I want to make it clear that I see the government’s removal of the protections in this bill for unaccompanied children seeking asylum as nothing sort of an absolute disgrace and a piece of dishonesty,” Corbyn stated.
Issues regarding workers’ rights have also been postponed for a separate bill. However, Thursday’s Queen’s Speech will severely inhibit transport unions from striking.
“The prime minister, your leader, if I may say so Mr. Speaker, said workers’ rights were going to be protected. They are not in this bill,” Corbyn said in response to a question to Conservative politician Mark Francois.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged the House of Commons on Friday morning to pass his Brexit withdrawal agreement at the second reading, which will give him the political mandate he needs to meet the January 31 deadline to secure a deal for the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union.
"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 for our European neighbors 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," Johnson said to the Commons.
The prime minister called upon the country to unite after three years of political and societal division caused by Brexit. Johnson told parliament that he hopes that the passing of his bill will bring to an end the use of the terms "remain" and "leave."
Jonathan Edwards, a Plaid Cymru member of parliament, put pressure on the prime minister for clauses in his withdrawal agreement that prevent the opportunity of extending the Brexit transition period beyond December 31, 2020. Edwards stated that Johnson has "boxed himself into a corner," and strengthened the EU’s hand at negotiations. The prime minister vehemently refuted these claims.
"I think most people looking at the negotiation will agree that it strengthens our negotiating position. If we have learned anything from the experience of the last three years, it is that drift and dither means more acrimony and anguish," the prime minister said.
Johnson said that his deal "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."
