Riyaz Patel
UK and EU negotiators have finally reached consensus on a Brexit deal which will now be put to the 27 leaders of the European Union to sign off, as well as the British Parliament.
President of the EU Commission Jean-Claude Juncker announced Wednesday via Twitter that a “fair and balanced agreement” had been struck between Brussels and London.
“I recommend that #EUCO endorses this deal,” he added.
UK PM Boris Johnson also took to social media to reveal that a “great new deal that takes back control” had been brokered and urged the British parliament to endorse the deal Saturday when MPs convene to debate the agreement.
However, critically, Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) say they oppose the agreement.
The DUP, one of Johnson’s key allies who support his minority Tory government, responded by insisting that their opposition to the deal, as it stands, “hasn’t changed.”
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has also criticized the new UK-EU Brexit deal, claiming that it was a “sell out” agreement that “won’t bring the country together and should be rejected.”
“The best way to get Brexit sorted is to give the people the final say in a public vote,” he added.
Johnson needs 320 UK lawmakers to back the deal to see it pass through the House of Commons, and so with the DUP and Labour looking like they’ll reject such a proposition, it appears he could struggle to get the required numbers.
It’s gearing up to be a highly momentous day in the UK parliament on Saturday, if as expected, MPs convene to debate and vote on the deal.
It would be the first Saturday sitting since 1982, when Argentina invaded the Falklands Islands, and only the third since World War II.
