Johnson: No Brexit delay

LONDON (AP):

Buoyed by a big new Conservative majority in Parliament, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson toughened his Brexit stance on Tuesday, ruling out any extension of an end-of-2020 deadline to strike a trade deal with the European Union.

As lawmakers assembled for the first sitting of Parliament since Johnson’s election victory last week, Downing Street said the government would insert a clause into its Withdrawal Agreement Bill — which ratifies the country’s departure from the European Union (EU) — to rule out extending Britain’s trade negotiations with the EU beyond next year. That could mean Britain leaving without a deal on trade terms at the start of 2021, a prospect that alarms many UK businesses.

Pound plunging

Although such a move would be reversible, the pound plunged on the news, falling one per cent to less than US$1.32.

Johnson’s Conservatives won an 80-strong majority in Parliament in last week’s general election — the most decisive Tory victory since the 1980s — as voters in formerly Labour-backing areas rallied to Johnson’s promise to “get Brexit done”.

The majority gives Johnson the ability to overcome opposition to his Brexit plans and implement his legislative agenda — unlike Conservative predecessor Theresa May, who led a minority administration and failed to win lawmakers’ backing for her Brexit blueprint.

“This Parliament is not going to waste the time of the nation in deadlock and division and delay,” Johnson told lawmakers as they assembled for the first time since the election.