Why Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal doesn’t mean the end for Brexit
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, center, is greeted by Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, center left, during a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019. Britain and the European Union reached a new tentative Brexit deal on Thursday, hoping to finally escape the acrimony, divisions and frustration of their three-year divorce battle. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
Boris Johnson thinks his Brexit emergency deal is a huge victory. However, the deal being discussed is far from over. Johnson has now only reached as far as Theresa May was able to get – having a deal to sign in order to withdraw from the EU.
The new plan and its negotiation leaves Johnson to backtrack on some key positions and will cause a $63 billion dent in the annual public finances. And this was the easy part.
Now, Johnson will have to garner support in the Parliament at its weekend session this Saturday and relay the deal. In May’s case, this was thrown out of the House thrice. His attempt is to now succeed where May could not.
The PM will have to convince over half of the 650 MPs in the House of Commons. If he fails to do so, he will be required to file for an extension to the EU. This would be the fourth extension in UK history since 2016.
Johnson had promised that he would succeed in leaving the EU by the proposed date of October 31st. The job became harder when he was able to secure a deal on Thursday, but a number of opposing ministers claimed to be unwilling to vote.
The deal will face numerous challenges in the Parliament including being questioned relentlessly according to Tim Bale, a professor at Queen Mary University, London. As of now it may seem like the tide is in his favor, but Boris Johnson must be able to gather the numbers before meeting with the EU at a round table conference in Brussels this Thursday. The Democratic Unionist Party from Northern Ireland withdrew their support first, leading the way for others as they claimed that the deal did not care for the interest of the people of the UK and their unity. This was followed by the Labour Party and rebels.
The new deal will offer a harder version of Brexit than the one proposed by Theresa May. It would include a short transition and then a clean break from EU policies like free movement of goods and people.
