LONDON (AP) — After gaining support from European Union leaders for their new Brexit agreement, Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson returned to London to try to garner support in Britain’s reluctant parliament. Johnson returned in the early hours of the morning, ahead of what is expected to be a busy Friday in which he will try to convince lawmakers to vote for his pact in an unusual parliamentary session on Saturday.
Voting in the House of Commons is expected to be adjusted. Johnson’s Conservative Party has no majority in the 650-seat lower house, so it will be at the expense of the backing of other parties and independent lawmakers to advance the plan. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab was up early to start the campaign.” Now we have a real opportunity to complete Brexit by being loyal to the referendum, to move forward as a government, and I think as a country, and to clear the clouds of Brexit,” he said in statements to the BBC. Raab further noted that the executive does not lose hope of convincing the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), its northern Ireland ally, who on the eve rejected the new divorce agreement between London and Brussels.But the chances of this happening seemed sparse. Dexit spokesman Sammy Wilson noted that the Brexit package negotiated by Johnson was bad for his region.” I can assure you that we will not vote in favour of this agreement with the Commons tomorrow,” he told the BBC. The future of the agreement could depend largely on a group of defied former Conservative deputies who were expelled from training earlier in the year and members of the Labour Party, the main opposition formation, which has 244 members. Around 20 of them, mostly representatives from regions who voted for Brexit, were in favour in the past to vote on a document respecting the outcome of the June referendum of 2016.Ni even expert analysts can provide exact numbers.” There seems to be signs that it will be (a vote) very, very tight that will be reduced to one, two or five people,” said Joelle Grogan, a professor of British and Community law at the University of Middlesex. “But at 24 hours, I have no idea what could happen.” If Johnson’s campaign is successful and the agreement gets the green light, London would disengage from the block on 31 October on 31 October. But if lawmakers reject it, as they did with Johnson’s predecessor Theresa May, on three occasions, a law passed earlier this year forces the prime minister to call for a new extension to Brussels.Asked for his response to the request for a possible extension, European Council President Donald Tusk said Thursday that he will consult the other 27 EU partners to reach a decision, leaving open the possibility of a further delay.
