BRUSSELS (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s disdain race to the European Union was left behind on Thursday after he and bloc leaders celebrated the conclusion of a long-awaited agreement to consumer Brexit. Now Johnson faces an internal opponent: his own Parliament.When the ink was not quite in the proposal and Johnson happily patted EU rulers on the back during a summit in Brussels, various British party leaders said that would vote against the agreement. At one crucial point, the Northern Ireland party supporting Johnson’s minority government also spoke out against it, leaving it uncertain whether the prime minister will gather the votes it needs for ratification of the Convention.
After an intense week of talks and with two weeks to go before the British exit is completed on the scheduled date of 31 October, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker broke tension with a tweet on Thursday morning: “What we have! It is a fair and balanced agreement for the EU and the UK, and it is proof of our commitment.” The agreement includes an option to avoid a strict border between Ireland, a member of the EU, and Northern Ireland, which is part of Britain. It also paves the way crucially for an orderly exit from Britain, as voters approved in a referendum more than three years ago. European leaders unanimously supported the proposal on Thursday, taking formal turn it to the British Parliament, which will discuss it on Saturday in a special session. Johnson, who has lost almost every major vote in Parliament since taking office in July, said he hoped he will make way where his predecessor, Teresa May, did not succeed him, whose proposal was rejected three times in Parliament.” This is a great deal for our country. I also think it’s a very good deal for our friends in the EU,” Johnson told reporters in Brussels. “There is a compelling reason for legislators in the House of Commons to express the democratic will of the people in the face of our repeated promise to proceed and realize Brexit.” However, ratification of the agreement has begun to turn into a struggle. All major opposition parties censored the convention, and Johnson’s crucial ally, the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland, noted that his lawmakers will reject it.” It seems to me that the prime minister has negotiated an even worse deal than Theresa May’s, which was overwhelmingly rejected,” Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said.Many opposition lawmakers intend to reject the deal and postpone Brexit until there is an election, a new referendum or new negotiations. Last month, Parliament passed a law ordering the government to seek an extension of the Brexit deadline if the legislative body did not approve the agreement by Saturday. However, Juncker reportedly dismissed a further postponement, leaving British lawmakers with a simple option: to approve the agreement, reject it or revoke Brexit.” If we have an agreement, we have an agreement and there is no need for postponement,” he said. However, Juncker does not have the last word for a postponement. The decision is made by the remaining 27 EU countries. The prime minister’s office, Number 10 Downing Street, made a more direct and brief approach: “New agreement, or no agreement… but without delay.”
