Number 10 is refusing to confirm if Boris Johnson will include measures he promised to protect workers’ rights and the environment in his Brexit Bill this week.
The Prime Minister is set to bring his Brexit Bill back to the House of Commons this week, but Downing Street is suggesting that Johnson is no longer bound to pledges he made to MPs in October when he was persuading them to vote for his Withdrawal Agreement Bill.
The draft bill included measures to protect the environment and workers’ rights when the UK leaves the EU and its protections.
And it also looks like Boris Johnson will ditch the guarantee to give MPs a vote on whether to extend the Brexit transition period at the end of 2020 if Brexit has not been negotiated by then.
Trade agreements with one individual country usually take longer and a conversation with Michel Barnier explaining to his colleagues what an unrealistic time frame that is was leaked last week.
The Bill will be brought before the MPs on Friday. Boris Johnson is keen to rush the Withdrawal Bill through with as little scrutiny as possible and may seek a first and second reading squeezed into a single day.
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