Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal to be approved by MPs after Tory election landslide

Prime minister hails ‘beginning of a new dawn for our country’ ahead of historic vote, but opposition MPs raise fears over ditching of several key concessions

MPs are set to approve Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal on Friday, triggering the final stage of exiting the European Union three and a half years after the vote to Leave.

The Commons will vote on the second reading of the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, which enshrines the deal in law, after Mr Johnson won a commanding majority in last week’s general election.

The result means that the draft law is certain to pass its second reading before parliament disbands for Christmas. It is expected to then be rushed through the Commons and Lords early in the new year to deliver Brexit by 31 January.

MPs narrowly approved an earlier version of the bill in October but voted down a government proposal to rush the bill through its remaining stages in just three days. That prompted Mr Johnson to call a general election, which subsequently handed him a Commons majority of 80.

The government has since amended the bill to ditch a number of promises made to MPs in October, prompting an angry backlash.

The revised text does not include earlier guarantees that existing workers’ rights will be maintained after Brexit, although the government had insisted that they will be enshrined in separate legislation.

Ministers have also ditched a promise to give parliament more of a say over the future UK-EU relationship, and a pledge to allow the Commons to vote on whether to extend the Brexit transition period if no trade deal with the EU has been agreed by the end of 2020.

Instead, the law explicitly bans ministers from agreeing to extend the transition period, and removes provisions allowing MPs to scrutinise future trade deals.

​Ahead of the debate, Boris Johnson said: “Today we will deliver on the promise we made to the people and get the Brexit vote wrapped up for Christmas.

“Now MPs will start the process of passing the bill. Then, at the beginning of the new decade, at the beginning of a new dawn for our country, our parliamentarians will return to Westminster to immediately finish the job, take us out of the EU on 31 January and move this country forward.”

He added: “After years of delay and rancour in parliament, we will deliver certainty and hard-working businesses and people across this country will have a firm foundation on which to plan for the future.

“Next year will be a great year for our country – the year we get Brexit done, boost NHS funding, invest in infrastructure and level up access to opportunity and prosperity across our great nation.”

But Labour MP Lisa Nandy, who is considering a bid for the party leadership, said the new version of the bill was worse than the first.

She said: “Workers’ rights binned – the key protections in clause 34 now dropped entirely. No clarity on when or what rights workers will have in law by December next year... No environment or consumer rights protections. All of [Michael] Gove’s promises of a Green Brexit are nowhere to be seen.”

She added: “The trade deal process will now be conducted in secret, with the EU parliament having more power and scrutiny than British MPs. What happened to taking back control?”