Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Trump Pushes for Release of Epstein, Maxwell Grand Jury Testimony

3 hours ago

Trump Says US to Hit India With 25% Tariff Starting Friday

3 hours ago

Tariff Revenues Hit Record $150 Billion Amid Trump’s Trade Talks, Fox Business Reports

5 hours ago

Fed Likely to Hold Rates Steady Despite Trump’s Push for Big Cuts

5 hours ago

What’s Behind California’s Frozen Housing Market?

24 hours ago

Oil Prices Rise on Trade War Relief, US Pressure on Russia

1 day ago

Marjorie Taylor Greene Is First Republican Lawmaker to Call Gaza Crisis a ‘Genocide’

1 day ago

UK Will Recognize Palestinian Statehood in September, Barring Israel-Hamas Ceasefire

1 day ago
Johnson Urges Support for Brexit Deal Before Knife-Edge Vote
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
October 18, 2019

Share

LONDON — Boris Johnson worked behind the scenes Friday to win enough support to push his new Brexit deal through the fractious British Parliament and pave the way for Britain — finally — to leave the European Union in two weeks.

“I want colleagues on all sides of the House to think about a world tomorrow night in which we’ve got this thing done and we’ve got it over the line. Because I think the nation will heave a great sigh of relief because that will be our moment to get on with the priorities of our country.” — Prime Minister Boris Johnson
His message to allies and opponents alike: Approve the agreement so Britain can finally put the tortuous, three-year Brexit saga behind it.
Johnson returned overnight from the EU summit in Brussels where he sealed the divorce deal and began a busy day of meetings and phone calls as he attempted to persuade lawmakers to ratify the pact at a rare Saturday sitting of Parliament. He met Friday with his Cabinet ahead of what’s expected to be a knife-edge House of Commons vote on what was being billed by an excited media as Super Saturday.
“I want colleagues on all sides of the House to think about a world tomorrow night in which we’ve got this thing done and we’ve got it over the line,” he told British broadcaster ITV. “Because I think the nation will heave a great sigh of relief because that will be our moment to get on with the priorities of our country.”
Johnson’s Conservative Party holds only 288 seats in the 650-seat House of Commons, so he will have to rely on support from other parties and independent lawmakers to get over the line.
The vote appeared to be tight, and it could yet be disrupted. While the vote will mark a defining moment, the Brexit saga may have more twists in store .
Many lawmakers want to rule out the possibility that Britain could crash out of the bloc without a deal on the Oct. 31 deadline — a prospect economists say would disrupt trade and plunge the economy into recession. A proposed amendment to Saturday’s vote would withhold approval of the deal until all the necessary legislation to implement it has passed.

It’s Not Certain the Amendment Will Be Selected for a Vote

One of the lawmakers behind the measure, Oliver Letwin, said it would prevent the U.K. from leaving at the end of the month “by mistake if something goes wrong during the passage of the implementing legislation.”
It’s not certain the amendment will be selected for a vote, or whether it will pass if it is.
Parliament has also passed a law compelling the government to ask the EU for a three-month delay to Brexit if a deal is not approved on Saturday.
European Union leaders, who unanimously approved the deal at a meeting in Brussels on Thursday, applied pressure to lawmakers by suggesting there is no guarantee they would grant another delay if the latest deal is rejected.
“I want us to finish this off and speak about the future,” French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday at an EU summit in Brussels. “The Oct. 31 date must be respected. I don’t believe new delays should be granted.”
Johnson’s hopes of getting the deal through Parliament were dealt a blow when his Northern Ireland ally, the Democratic Unionist Party, said it would not back him.
The DUP’s Brexit spokesman, Sammy Wilson, said Johnson’s Brexit package — which carves out special status for Northern Ireland to keep an open border with EU member Ireland — is bad for his region and its bonds with the rest of the U.K.
“I can give you absolute assurance we will not be voting for this deal when it comes before the Commons tomorrow,” he told the BBC.
[activecampaign form=29]  

Labour Leaders Have Told Party Lawmakers to Oppose the Deal

While the DUP is resolutely opposed to the deal, opinion is divided in Northern Ireland.
In a sawmill in the town of Enniskillen, the home constituency of DUP leader Arlene Foster, CEO Brian Murphy voted to stay in the European Union in the 2016 Brexit referendum.
His company buys logs from sustainably managed forest with 60% of them coming from the Republic of Ireland. The uncertainty of Brexit for the past three years has caused grave concern that is now starting to lift.
“The overwhelming emotion was one of relief,” Murphy said of the new deal, which would prevent border formalities for his company’s trucks, which pass between Ireland and Northern Ireland 23,000 times a year.
“Imagine asking a lumberjack to fill out eight different forms by the side of our truck in the forest in the middle of the winter as horizontal rain hits you in the face,” he said.
The deal’s fate could largely rest on a group of 21 Conservative lawmakers expelled from the party’s group in Parliament earlier this year for voting against the government, and on members from the main opposition Labour Party, which has 244 lawmakers.
Nicholas Soames, one of the 21 and the grandson of former Prime Minister Winston Churchill, said he would vote for the deal, and he thought most of his expelled colleagues would “by and large vote for it.”
Labour leaders have told party lawmakers to oppose the deal. But around 20 of them, mainly representing pro-Brexit parts of the country, have previously indicated a desire to back a deal to honor the referendum result.

It’s a Complex Situation and Not Even Expert Analysts Can Gauge the Exact Numbers

Labour lawmaker John Mann said Friday that he thought at least 10 party legislators would support the government’s deal.

“There seems to be an indication that it will be very, very close. It will come down to one, two or five people. I have no idea what that will look like.” — Joelle Grogan, a senior lecturer in U.K. and EU law at Middlesex University
While a majority of Parliament supports leaving the EU, in keeping with voters’ decision, members are split on the terms. Labour lawmakers worry that the Johnson deal’s vision of a loose post-Brexit economic relationship with the EU could endanger workplace and environmental protections that Britain gained as a member of the bloc.
It’s a complex situation and not even expert analysts can gauge the exact numbers.
“There seems to be an indication that it will be very, very close. It will come down to one, two or five people,” said Joelle Grogan, a senior lecturer in U.K. and EU law at Middlesex University. With the vote only 24 hours away, “I have no idea what that will look like.”
If the deal is rejected — as happened three times with an earlier agreement presented by Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May — Brexit uncertainty will continue a while longer. Johnson has said he won’t do that, but also that he will obey the law, an apparent contradiction.
Conservative lawmaker John Baron acknowledged the vote would be tight but said Johnson was on a roll.
“The momentum is with the prime minister, and momentum at a time like this is important,” he said.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Neptune to Launch a Creator-First, Customizable Algorithm Social Platform to Rival TikTok

DON'T MISS

Kamala Harris Will Not Run for Governor of California in 2026

DON'T MISS

How Netanyahu Keeps Playing Trump for a Fool in Gaza

DON'T MISS

Trump Signs Order Implementing Additional 40% Tariff on Brazil, White House Says

DON'T MISS

Could Madera Poach Stalled Costco? It’d Be ‘a Significant Financial Blow,’ Says Dyer

DON'T MISS

Trump Pushes for Release of Epstein, Maxwell Grand Jury Testimony

DON'T MISS

Clovis Police Arrest Eight at DUI Checkpoint

DON'T MISS

Trump Says US to Hit India With 25% Tariff Starting Friday

DON'T MISS

Republican US Senator Grassley Clashes With Trump Over Nominations

DON'T MISS

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Navpreet Singh

UP NEXT

Trump Signs Order Implementing Additional 40% Tariff on Brazil, White House Says

UP NEXT

Trump Says US to Hit India With 25% Tariff Starting Friday

UP NEXT

Israeli Minister Hints at Annexing Parts of Gaza

UP NEXT

Russia Has Developed Immunity to Sanctions, Kremlin Says After Trump Tightens Ceasefire Deadline

UP NEXT

Marjorie Taylor Greene Is First Republican Lawmaker to Call Gaza Crisis a ‘Genocide’

UP NEXT

UK Will Recognize Palestinian Statehood in September, Barring Israel-Hamas Ceasefire

UP NEXT

New Gallup Poll Reveals Most Immoral Behaviors In America

UP NEXT

How Israel’s War With Hamas Became Unjust

UP NEXT

US Approval of Israel’s Gaza Offensive Drops to 32%, Poll Shows

UP NEXT

Gaza Death Toll Hits 60,000 as Global Monitor Demands Action to Avert Famine

Trump Signs Order Implementing Additional 40% Tariff on Brazil, White House Says

2 hours ago

Could Madera Poach Stalled Costco? It’d Be ‘a Significant Financial Blow,’ Says Dyer

3 hours ago

Trump Pushes for Release of Epstein, Maxwell Grand Jury Testimony

3 hours ago

Clovis Police Arrest Eight at DUI Checkpoint

3 hours ago

Trump Says US to Hit India With 25% Tariff Starting Friday

3 hours ago

Republican US Senator Grassley Clashes With Trump Over Nominations

3 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Navpreet Singh

5 hours ago

Tariff Revenues Hit Record $150 Billion Amid Trump’s Trade Talks, Fox Business Reports

5 hours ago

White House Set to Unveil Closely Watched Crypto Policy Report

5 hours ago

Warner or Conklin? Fresno State QB Battle Builds Ahead of Kansas Opener

5 hours ago

Neptune to Launch a Creator-First, Customizable Algorithm Social Platform to Rival TikTok

While tech giants pour billions into the next wave of social media, a mother of five is about to launch an app from her home — and it’s alre...

5 minutes ago

the neptune app
5 minutes ago

Neptune to Launch a Creator-First, Customizable Algorithm Social Platform to Rival TikTok

Former U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris attends the 56th NAACP Image Awards at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California, U.S. February 22, 2025. (Reuters FIle)
57 minutes ago

Kamala Harris Will Not Run for Governor of California in 2026

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
1 hour ago

How Netanyahu Keeps Playing Trump for a Fool in Gaza

President Donald Trump speaks at a dinner with Republican Senators, in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 18, 2025. (Reuters File)
2 hours ago

Trump Signs Order Implementing Additional 40% Tariff on Brazil, White House Says

A map showing the Herndon/Riverside Costco location with a big arrow pointing to Hwy 99/Avenue 7 and a big question mark.
3 hours ago

Could Madera Poach Stalled Costco? It’d Be ‘a Significant Financial Blow,’ Says Dyer

Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell listens to her sentencing from Judge Alison Nathan in a courtroom sketch in New York City, U.S. June 28, 2022. (Reuters File)
3 hours ago

Trump Pushes for Release of Epstein, Maxwell Grand Jury Testimony

3 hours ago

Clovis Police Arrest Eight at DUI Checkpoint

President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shake hands, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 13, 2025. (Reuters File)
3 hours ago

Trump Says US to Hit India With 25% Tariff Starting Friday

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend