Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s post-Brexit trade deal was approved by the British Parliament less than 24 hours before the country’s final split from the European Union.
The House of Lords gave the green light to the agreement late on Wednesday, just a day before the UK leaves the EU internal market when the transition period ends at 11pm on Thursday.
Johnson thanked MPs for their support of the ‘historic’ legislation, which changes the deal he signed with the EU into British law.
“The fate of this great country is now firmly in our hands,” Johnson said in an emailed statement after the deal was approved. “We take up this task with a sense of purpose and with the interests of the British public at the heart of everything we do.”
The rush to get the deal through Parliament in one day puts an end to a four-year saga that has gripped British politics and divided the country.
Since the vote in the referendum in June 2016, unrest over Brexit has forced two prime ministers to do so stepping down, devastating markets and radically redefining the UK’s relationship with its largest trading partner.
For Johnson, it is both a personal achievement and a political milestone. He was the face of the pro-Brexit campaign in 2016 and had the most to lose politically in the absence of an orderly divorce.
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Risks remain for Johnson – and for Britain – in the months and years to come, with new rules for trade and controls on goods crossing the border, likely making disruption inevitable. The question of how close or how far the UK should be to the EU market will become a regular part of the UK political debate.
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In the short term, however, the deal gives Johnson a domestic victory at a difficult time. His government is fighting one the resurgent coronavirus that has been causing the deepest recession for more than 300 years and now threatens to overwhelm the health service.
Under the agreement, there will be a zero rate, zero quota trade in goods between Britain and the EU, but very limited provisions for service companies, which make up 80% of the UK economy.
The deal – closed on Christmas Eve – was signed on Wednesday by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel, before being flown to London to be inked by Johnson.
As the clock ticks for the UK’s departure from the internal market and customs union, the prime minister will be with his family at his Downing Street residence, according to a statement by a government spokesman.
This moment marks “a new beginning in our country’s history and a new relationship with the EU as their greatest ally,” Johnson said.