This archive report was first published on 22 October 2019.
Britain's Brexit Deadline Looms ¶
With just nine days left until the October 31 deadline, British lawmakers are set to debate and vote on the detailed legislation for Britain's departure from the European Union, a deal that Prime Minister Boris Johnson reached with European leaders last week.
On Tuesday, lawmakers will hold a preliminary vote on the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, which sets the legal framework for Britain's departure. If the bill passes, a second vote will be held on the government's compressed time frame for making the bill law.
The second vote, which is considered the more contentious measure, would give lawmakers just three days to pore over hundreds of pages of detailed legal text. Analysts and many lawmakers say more time is needed for scrutiny and debate.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson's chances of success are uncertain, with analysts saying his chances are better on the preliminary vote for the withdrawal bill. However, the tougher fight will be on the bill to compress the debate into three days, with a final vote on the withdrawal bill on Thursday.
Labour and other opposition parties oppose the abbreviated schedule, but so do some Conservatives. If Mr. Johnson wins both votes, Parliament will schedule a decisive vote on the withdrawal bill on Thursday. In the interim, opponents will try to amend the bill.
Some of the amendments that lawmakers are likely to propose would be 'poison pills' that are unacceptable to the government, unacceptable to the European Union, or both. In the unlikely event that Mr. Johnson were to agree to any changes in the withdrawal agreement, those changes would have to be negotiated with Brussels.
