Critical to get new bill passed by year-end, PM Johnson to tell parliament

LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister Boris Johnson will tell parliament on Monday a bill that breaches parts of a divorce deal with the European Union is a “vital legal safety net” and “it is critical” for lawmakers to pass it before the end of this year.

Johnson, who argues that the bill is needed to protect Britain from what he describes as a threatened food blockade by the EU, will open a debate in parliament later on Monday.

“This is a piece of legislation that delivers a vital legal safety net in order to ensure that the integrity of the United Kingdom can be protected and it is critical that MPs (members of parliament) pass this bill before the end of the year,” his spokesman said.

“We have throughout this negotiation approached it with good faith and what the prime minister and Lord Frost (Britain’s chief negotiator) have been setting out is the need for the EU to think again on this point because it doesn’t make resolving the outstanding issues in terms of a free trade agreement and the Northern Ireland protocol any easier.”