UK, EU reach tentative Brexit deal, still needs ratification

BRUSSELS (AP) — Britain and the European Union finally reached a tentative Brexit deal on Thursday, hoping to escape the acrimony, divisions and bitter frustrations of their three-year divorce battle.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson now must sell the accord to a recalcitrant Parliament.

Johnson’s political rivals and even a crucial ally almost immediately rejected the Brexit agreement, putting it into doubt.

Only hours before Brussels hosted a summit of the bloc’s 28 national leaders, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker tweeted: “We have one! It’s a fair and balanced agreement for the EU and the UK and it is testament to our commitment to find solutions.”

Johnson tweeted that the two sides had struck a “great new deal” and urged UK lawmakers to ratify it in a special session being held Saturday — only the first time since 1982 that British lawmakers have been at work on that day.

Juncker and Johnson then stood together at a joint news conference in Brussels to proclaim a deal, tempered by Juncker’s sadness at Britain’s departure.

They said there was no need for Britain to request yet another extension to its October 31 departure from the European Union.

Juncker ruled out any new delay, leaving British lawmakers with a simple choice: Deal or no deal.

“If we have a deal, we have a deal and there is no need for a prolongation,” he said.

Johnson had just tweeted the same: “This is a deal which allows us to get Brexit done and leave the EU in two weeks’ time.”

The pound hit a five-month high against the US dollar on news of a Brexit deal, then sunk back as traders heard Johnson’s Northern Irish allies torpedo the party by criticising the way the deal handles the Irish border.

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