News / Foreign Policy

MPs overwhelmingly endorse Brexit trade agreement

Wednesday, 30 December 2020 4:07 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 30 December 2020 9:11 PM ]

The House of Commons has lent overwhelming support to the trade agreement with the EU

As expected British MPs have overwhelmingly endorsed the post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union (EU) and moved it one step closer to full ratification.

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In a near-unanimous show of force the House of Commons endorsed the agreement by a staggering 521 votes to 73.

The deal will now be considered by the House of Lords for full ratification. However, this is considered a mere formality as peers are expected to ratify the deal quickly – possibly later today (December 30) - without requesting any modifications.

The post-Brexit trade agreement, which was agreed between Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on December 24, is 1,246 pages long and reportedly covers £660 billion worth of trade.

In recommending the deal to MPs, Johnson said it enables “a new relationship between Britain and the EU as sovereign equals”.

"The central purpose of this bill is to accomplish something that the British people always knew in their hearts could be done but which we were continually told was impossible", the PM claimed.

"We were told we could not have our cake and eat it... namely that we could trade and cooperate with our European neighbors on the closest terms of friendship and goodwill, whilst retaining sovereign control of our laws and our national destiny”, Johnson concluded with his trademark rhetorical flourish.

For their part, EU ambassadors approved the deal on December 28 and the European Parliament is expected to ratify it early in the New Year.