Prime Minister Boris Johnson appealed to lawmakers to back his last-minute Brexit deal in an extraordinary sitting of the British parliament on Saturday after his plans were plunged into chaos by his opponents’ moves to derail the legislation.
More than three years since the United Kingdom voted 52-48% to leave the European project, Johnson sought parliament’s approval for the divorce treaty he struck in Brussels on Thursday.
He said he was confident he had secured the best possible deal and there was little appetite for further delay.
If there is one feeling that unites the British public with a growing number of officials in the EU it is a burning desire to get Brexit done,” Johnson said. “Further delay is pointless, expensive and deeply corrosive of public trust.”
On a day of high drama, lawmakers held the first Saturday sitting since the 1982 Argentine invasion of the Falklands, while thousands of people gathered to march on parliament demanding another referendum on EU membership.
Protesters waving EU flags and carrying signs calling for Brexit to be halted were making their way towards parliament.
In the chamber, meanwhile, Johnson’s opponents have laid a booby trap that could frustrate his plans, forcing him to send members of parliament home without voting on his deal on Saturday, and imposing a further delay in achieving Brexit.
Former Conservative lawmaker Oliver Letwin, expelled from the party by Johnson, has proposed that the decision on whether to back a deal be deferred until all the legislation needed to implement it has been passed through parliament.
Even though Johnson believes this can be achieved by Oct. 31, others think it would need a short ‘technical’ delay.
A law passed by Johnson’s opponents obliges him to ask the EU for a Brexit delay until Jan. 31, 2020 unless he has secured approval for his deal by the end of Saturday.
Source: REUTERS
