LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to win a parliamentary vote on Tuesday on laws which give him the power to break the Withdrawal Agreement struck with the European Union last year.
Johnson’s Internal Market Bill aims to ensure Britain’s four nations can trade freely with each other after Brexit. Ministers say that will require breaking the EU exit treaty to protect Northern Ireland unless stalled talks with Brussels make a breakthrough.
The plan has angered the EU and drawn heavy criticism from lawmakers who say that going back on an international agreement damages Britain’s reputation.
Nevertheless, after a concession giving parliament a say over whether to use the treaty-breaking powers snuffed out a rebellion, most of Johnson’s 80-strong majority is set to vote in favour of the law proceeding to the next stage of debate.
Former British finance minister Sajid Javid said he had changed his mind and would back the new plan, having initially said he could not support it – the latest in a line of potential rebels to accept the government’s compromise.
Although some in Johnson’s Conservative Party, like former prime minister Theresa May, have not been won over, the bill is expected to be passed to the final stage of approval in parliament’s lower chamber, which will take place next week.
After that, the bill faces two months of scrutiny in the upper chamber, where Johnson does not have a majority.
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