Who supports the new Brexit deal and who is against it?

France, Germany and Ireland welcome newly brokered agreement but UK opposition parties say they will vote against it.

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and his SNP counterpart, Nicola Sturgeon, pledged to vote against the revised Brexit deal [File: Reuters]

The United Kingdom and the European Union have agreed a revised Brexit deal.

The president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, announced the agreement on Thursday just hours before EU leaders meet in Brussels.

“Where there is a will, there is a deal – we have one! It’s a fair and balanced agreement for the EU and the UK and it is testament to our commitment to find solutions,” Juncker said on Twitter.

Advertisement

The deal must still be formally ratified by the European and UK Parliaments.

Here are some reactions from around the world on the agreement:

Ireland

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar welcomed the new Brexit deal, saying the divorce agreement would allow the UK to leave the EU in an “orderly way”.

Advertisement

Varadkar said the agreement is good for both EU member Ireland and Northern Ireland, and protects the EU’s single market and Ireland’s place within it.

Germany

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas described the Brexit agreement negotiated by the British government and the EU as “nothing less than a diplomatic feat”.

Speaking to reporters in Berlin, Maas said the agreement “is proof that we all worked very responsibly together”, adding a reminder that it still needs to be discussed by EU leaders and the European Parliament.

Scotland

The leader of the Scottish National Party said her party will not vote for the new deal.

Nicola Sturgeon said the agreement “would take Scotland out of the European Union, out of the single market and out of the customs union against the overwhelming democratic will of the people of Scotland”.

She said in a written statement that her party’s MPs “will not vote for Brexit in any form”.

Advertisement

France

French President Emmanuel Macron said it was “good news” that a deal had been reached, and it was now down to Johnson to deliver a vote in the British Parliament on the Brexit deal agreed with the EU.

When asked by reporters if the deal would pass the House of Commons, Macron said: “This is not my job. As long as I’m here, I’m not the prime minister [of the UK].”

“This is your prime minister [the UK prime minister] to deliver now a vote to parliament so I…my understanding now is that now he’s in a situation to get a majority at the parliament and I do hope it will be the case,” he added.

Advertisement
French President Macron said it was now up to Boris Johnson to deliver Brexit [Laurent Cipriani/AP]

Brexit Party

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage urged the UK Parliament to reject the new deal.

He said the deal is “just not Brexit” and would bind Britain to the EU in too many ways.

Advertisement

Liberal Democrats

The leader of Britain’s pro-Europe Liberal Democrats said the party is determined to halt the Brexit process despite the new deal.

Advertisement

The party’s leader, Jo Swinson, said she is “more determined than ever” to stop Brexit and to “give the public the final say”.

The party is in favour of holding a second referendum on Brexit. 

Labour Party

UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn condemned the revised deal as “even worse” than the settlement reached by Johnson’s predecessor that was repeatedly rejected by British MPs.

“From what we know, it seems the Prime Minister has negotiated an even worse deal than Theresa May’s, which was overwhelmingly rejected,” Corbyn said in a statement.

DUP

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) said it could not support what was being proposed in Johnson’s deal regarding customs and consent issues for Northern Ireland’s border with Ireland post-Brexit.

“As things stand, we could not support what is being suggested on customs and consent issues, and there is a lack of clarity on VAT (value-added tax),” DUP leader Arlene Foster and deputy leader Nigel Dodds said in a statement.

“We will continue to work with the Government to try and get a sensible deal that works for Northern Ireland and protects the economic and constitutional integrity of the United Kingdom.”

Source: Al Jazeera, News Agencies

Advertisement