No further delay as Boris Johnson readies Brexit withdrawal bill

Britainu00c3u00a2u00c2u0080u00c2u0099s PM Boris Johnson walks to a waiting car as he leaves from the rear of 10 Downing Street in central London on Tuesday. Pic/AFP

London: United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson has published his 110-page Brexit Withdrawal Agreement Bill just hours before MPs were scheduled to debate it in House of Commons on Tuesday, in an attempt to avoid another delay and take the country out of the European Union (EU) by October 31. Another 124-page explanatory note accompanied the Withdrawal Agreement Bill.
The Bill details exactly how parliament is expected to put the deal that the prime minister agreed with his counterparts around the continent into UK law, reports the BBC.

Ministers have insisted that they have the numbers to get the Withdrawal Agreement Bill approved, despite losing a crunch Commons vote on October 19 aimed at ruling out a no-deal Brexit.
If MPs back the Bill, they will then vote on the government's "programme motion", which sets out the timetable for the legislation's passage through the Commons. If the programme motion is approved, the Bill will then move to the committee stage, which will continue on into Wednesday when MPs will have the opportunity to put down amendments.

These are expected to include attempts to keep the UK more closely aligned with the EU through a customs union and to stage a second referendum. Both were strongly opposed by the government, raising a possibility that it could pull the Bill altogether if either gets through. Ahead of the debate, Johnson on Monday night called on MPs to get behind the government's plans.

"The public doesn't want any more delays, neither do other European leaders and neither do I," he said. "Let's get Brexit done on October 31 and move on." But Opposition MPs have said there would not be enough time to scrutinise the Bill in just three days, the BBC reported.

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