Boris Johnson expects to get deal over the line, but EU ready for delay

Boris Johnson believes he ‘has the numbers’ to ram his Brexit deal through the House of Commons by the end of the week.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the House of Commons. Picture: AFP.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson believes he “has the numbers” to ram his deal through the House of Commons by the end of the week, though the EU is preparing to delay Brexit until February if he fails.

Mr Johnson was on Monday to announce plans for late-night sittings of MPs and a weekend sitting in the House of Lords to enable a withdrawal and implementation bill, which would turn his Brexit deal into law, to clear all stages in parliament and gain royal assent.

The EU is waiting to see ­whether the bill makes it through the second reading, scheduled for Tuesday, before deciding whether to offer an extension.

If Mr Johnson runs into serious trouble or MPs force a referendum then countries led by Germany will push for a longer extension, to as late as June next year. Ministers fear Labour will “kill” Mr Johnson’s deal by amending it to include a commitment to a Customs union with the EU. MPs could also vote down the government’s “program motion”, setting out the aggressive parliamentary timetable.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the government seemed “to have the numbers in the House of Commons. A lot of people say, ‘Get this done and move on’.”

The government believes that it has secured the backing of most of the 21 former Tory MPs who had the whip removed for voting to stop a no-deal Brexit after the so-called Letwin amendment won support on Saturday (Sunday AEDT). This delayed approval of Mr Johnson’s deal until all necessary UK laws were passed in parliament.

Amber Rudd, one of the former Tory MPs who backed the amendment, said she would vote for Mr Johnson’s deal and that a “fragile but sincere” coalition of MPs was willing to support it. Mr Johnson also believes that he has the support of at least 10 Labour MPs as well as all the hardline Eurosceptics, the so-called Spartans.

Mr Johnson was on Monday night to reveal plans to give parliament a “mandate” for negotiations with the EU over the future relationship with Britain to win the support of more Labour MPs.

Former Tory chancellor Philip Hammond called for him to go further by giving parliament power over whether to request an extension to the transition period after Brexit. It is due to end in ­December 2020 but could be ­extended by up to two years.

“We need not only for parliament to be in control of the negotiating mandate but, in order for that to be real and meaningful, parliament also has to be in control of any extension to the transition ­period. It will not be possible to negotiate an ambitious trading agreement in less than 14 months,” he said.

Diplomatic sources said that any extension offered by the EU would be “fungible”, meaning that Britain could leave earlier if Mr Johnson’s deal was ratified.

Norbert Rottgen, the chairman of the German parliament’s foreign affairs committee and a senior figure in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats, called for a long delay. “The European Council should now grant a final long one, giving the UK time to sort itself out to prepare for all possible resolutions, including a second referendum,” he said.

Finland Prime Minister Antti Rinne, who holds the EU’s rotating presidency, will be working with European Council president Donald Tusk to consult EU leaders over the next few days. “It makes sense to allow extra time,” he said.

The EU’s most likely option, according to diplomatic sources, is to decide that the three-month ­extension in the Benn Act, until January 31, is a purely “technical extension” to get the legislation passed. The Benn Act, passed by the opposition with the support of the 21 Tory rebels, is called the Surrender Act by Mr Johnson.

Such a decision might not require EU leaders to hold an extra summit on October 28 and could be agreed via the exchange of letters by ambassadors to Brussels.

The EU will have to hold an emergency summit if a longer political extension is needed beyond February next year because Mr Johnson’s deal becomes bogged down in the Commons or MPs ­reject it without either legislating for a new referendum or revoking Article 50.

The Times