In the days since Boris Johnson's U.K. election win, there's been much talk as to whether the blustery campaigning prime minister would be replaced by a slightly softer, cuddlier version — that having secured a large mandate, he would adopt a more centrist, collaborative stance.
The signs are that not much will change. As parliament resumes, Johnson plans to bring his Brexit deal back for a vote with speed. And with a twist. As Tim Ross explains, the bill will now include a guarantee that the Brexit transition phase can't be extended, setting up a new cliff-edge for a no-deal split with the European Union at the end of next year.
The time frame to negotiate new trading arrangements with the EU was always going to be tight, and fraught. Johnson is piling on the pressure in saying he won't agree to any delay. Trade deals generally take years to finalize, even relatively simple versions. Some have taken decades.
We've seen Johnson use threats and deadlines before to force action. The EU will have an incentive to avoid a disorderly Brexit a year from now. But equally, it does want to keep the U.K. as bound as it can to its rules and regulations.
Johnson's majority at home gives him wiggle room to push laws through. But that doesn't mean Brussels will become a pushover.
- Rosalind Mathieson
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