United Kingdom: vote on post-Brexit agreement overshadowed by Covid-19 cases
Boris Johnson at his December 30, 2020 press conference announcing new restrictions to stem the explosion in the number of Covid-19 cases in the UK.
AP - Heathcliff O'Malley
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
The United Kingdom spends its last day in the European Union on December 31, 2020 after a final stage on December 30.
The British Prime Minister and European leaders each signed the post-Brexit free trade agreement which was approved by a large majority by the Westminster parliament.
This latest formality has been eclipsed as Covid cases explode across the country.
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With our correspondent in London,
Muriel Delcroix
More gesticulating than ever Boris Johnson strove to proclaim the historic scope and benefits of the post-Brexit agreement during the flash debate granted to parliamentarians.
Welcoming a new chapter in a relationship which he considers in the future to be healthier between the United Kingdom and the European Union, the Prime Minister recalled that London had always been a member unconvinced anyway and would be now “
the best friend and ally
” of the European bloc.
While criticizing an "
unambitious and imperfect
" deal the main opposition Labor Party approved it and
thanks to the overwhelming majority
of the Conservatives, the vote in favor of the text was then only a formality.
Just like his signing by Boris Johnson in Downing Street and finally the Queen's assent.
But this hasty conclusion to 47 years of European integration has in reality gone almost unnoticed.
New restrictions
Systematically relegated to the background by the media, the epilogue of the Brexit saga will not have stood up to the ravages of Covid-19.
And it was a darker Boris Johnson who justified in front of the cameras at the end of the day yet another tightening of restrictions, imploring the British to redouble their efforts as the virus has killed nearly 1,000 in the last 24 hours .
WATCH LIVE: An update on coronavirus (30 December 2020) https://t.co/SUBw15xcGz
- Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) December 30, 2020
The British government in particular extended the confinement applied to part of England on Wednesday and postponed the start of the school year for some students.
►Also read: The United Kingdom, faced with a surge in cases, authorizes a new vaccine
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