Johnson mourns lack of ‘kissing under mistletoe’ in Christmas message – but heralds Brexit deal as ‘tidings of great joy’

Christmas ‘not about presents, or turkey, or brandy butter, much as I like all of that kind of stuff’, PM says

Boris Johnson has bemoaned the lack of “snogging under the mistletoe” that can be enjoyed this Christmas while heralding his Brexit deal as “glad tidings of great joy” in a video message to the public.

Just hours after finally brokering a trade agreement with the EU following a string of missed deadlines, Mr Johnson published a video to Twitter saying the 500-page document could serve as  a “present for anyone who may be looking for something to read in that sleepy post-Christmas lunch moment”.

“The oven-ready deal was just the starter,” he said in reference to the withdrawal agreement implemented in January this year. Lifting the document aloft, he added: “This is the feast – full of fish, by the way.”

His assertion comes as fishermen warn the sector may have been sold down the river to appease the EU, with the chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations saying it contained “significant concessions”.

However the PM, buoyed by the optimism of having narrowlyavoided a no-deal exit from the EU, remained optimistic in his Christmas message.

“I believe it will be the basis of a happy and successful and stable partnership with our friends in the EU for years to come”, he added.

His message also touched on people facing disrupted plans and isolation after the government introduced stringent new regulations to limit the spread of Covid-19.

Mr Johnson said he had “never known a Christmas” like this one, adding that sacrifices made this year will keep people alive to celebrate next year’s festive period.

“In most years it’s a moment for togetherness and celebration in which the generations are jumbled together in the same household for days on end, pulling crackers and snogging under the mistletoe, you name it”, he said.

“And yet this year that is the one type of Christmas we simply cannot afford to have.”

Mr Johnson said this Christmas was “not about presents, or turkey, or brandy butter, much as I like all of that kind of stuff”,

“It’s about hope,” he added. “It’s about a basic idea of rebirth and renewal."

Going on to compare the story of the birth of Jesus to the development of a Covid-19 vaccine, he added: “And though we may not be able to celebrate as normal this year I still think that feeling of hope is all around us this Christmas, because there really is a star in the sky, and it is growing brighter and brighter.

“And you know what it is, it’s thanks to the efforts of wise men and wise women in the east and elsewhere, we have a vaccine and we know that we are going to succeed in beating coronavirus, and that these privations that we’re going through are temporary and we know that next year really will be better.

“We know there will be people alive next Christmas, people we love, alive next Christmas precisely because we made the sacrifice and didn’t celebrate as normal.”