UK's Johnson to welcome new lawmakers, get Brexit rolling

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is ready to give a pep talk Monday to a new group of Conservative Party lawmakers as he begins his push to secure parliamentary approval for his Brexit deal.

Johnson will welcome 109 newly elected colleagues, many of them coming from parts of the country that were once strongholds of the opposition Labour Party.

Buoyed by the Conservatives’ decisive win in last week’s election, Johnson will move fast to deliver on his campaign mantra to “get Brexit done.” That means ensuring a Brexit withdrawal agreement bill is passed in time for the UK  to complete its historic departure from the European Union by the current deadline of January 31.

Johnson spokesman James Slack said the government will introduce the EU withdrawal bill on Friday. It will be up to the speaker of the House of Commons to determine if Parliament will hold its first major vote on the bill that same day or will wait until January after the Christmas recess.

The Brexit divorce bill is expected to receive strong support in Parliament, where Johnson’s Conservatives hold a strong majority.

The party won 365 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons in Thursday’s landslide election.

If the bill passes and Britain leaves the EU on time, the country will enter a transition period when EU rules and regulations would still apply in the country and people and goods would still be able to pass freely between the UK and the remaining EU members.

Negotiators for the British government and the EU would start trade talks with an eye toward reaching a comprehensive post-Brexit agreement.

Queen Elizabeth II will formally open Parliament on Thursday with a speech outlining the government’s legislative program.

The pomp and ceremony surrounding the queen’s speech will be less lavish than usual because she last formally opened Parliament just two months ago for a session cut short by the vote to hold an early election.

New lawmakers took to Twitter to chronicle their first day at work.

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