{"id":59598,"date":"2020-01-24T09:25:25","date_gmt":"2020-01-24T01:25:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=59598"},"modified":"2020-01-24T09:25:27","modified_gmt":"2020-01-24T01:25:27","slug":"brexit-queen-gives-assent-for-britain-to-leave-eu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=59598","title":{"rendered":"Brexit: Queen gives assent for Britain to leave EU"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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LONDON, Jan 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Queen Elizabeth II gave her formal assent Thursday for Britain to end its decades-long involvement in the European Union and seek a more independent but uncertain future at the end of the month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the head of state\u2019s ceremonial approval of the withdrawal legislation, Britain can finally leave its closest neighbours and trading partners after years of bickering and three delays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two top EU officials in Brussels are expected to sign the formal separation treaty on Friday and Prime Minister Boris Johnson \u2014 the pro-Brexit figurehead of Britain\u2019s seismic 2016 referendum \u2014 will put his name on it in the coming days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt times it felt like we would never cross the Brexit finish line, but we\u2019ve done it,\u201d Johnson said after both houses of the British parliament ratified the withdrawal bill on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow we can put the rancour and division of the past three years behind us and focus on delivering a bright, exciting future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Jan 31 split caps a remarkable political comeback for Johnson at one of the most difficult points in Britain\u2019s post-war history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He quit former prime minister Theresa May\u2019s government in 2018 in protest at what he viewed as her pro-European separation terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson returned as May\u2019s successor in July last year and has since managed to negotiate his own deal with Brussels and regain the government\u2019s control of parliament in a risky early election last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rest was a formality. Lawmakers barely debated the withdrawal agreement before passing it \u2014 even though critics called it worse for Britain than the one reached by May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson will celebrate his victory by issuing commemorative coins and chairing a special cabinet meeting in England\u2019s pro-Brexit north on Jan 31.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson will now be responsible for defining the terms on which Britain trades and shares everything from data to fishing waters with the remaining 27 EU member states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The formal talks are not expected to begin until March but the war of words is already intense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson insists that he will not extend the end-of-year negotiation deadline, while Brussels says a comprehensive deal will take much more time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UK government is also demanding the post-Brexit right to set its own rules on politically sensitive issues such as environmental standards and workers\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EU officials say that could give Britain an unfair advantage and are threatening to retaliate with tariffs and quotas that could do particular damage to the UK auto and pharmaceutical industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But some analysts believe this is the price Johnson is prepared to pay for delivering on voters\u2019 wishes to \u201cget Brexit done\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He argues that this flexibility will help him reach a quick post-Brexit agreement with the United States and other nations that are growing much faster than the EU bloc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

US officials say they are eager to strike a deal with Johnson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A deal \u201cis an absolute priority for President (Donald) Trump and we expect to complete that with them this year,\u201d US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said ahead of his arrival in London this weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross added that Johnson would have an easier time with Washington than Brussels because \u201cthere are far fewer issues between the UK and US.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson is expected to lay out his vision for the post-Brexit agreement with Brussels in a big policy address early next month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll be free to start having discussions with countries around the world, including the US\u201d at the same time as the Brussels talks, Downing Street said Wednesday. — NNN-AGENCIES
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LONDON, Jan 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Queen Elizabeth II gave her formal assent Thursday for Britain to end its decades-long involvement in the European Union and seek a more independent but uncertain future at the end of the month. With the head of state\u2019s ceremonial approval of the withdrawal legislation, Britain can finally leave its closest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[209],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59598"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=59598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59598\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=59598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=59598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=59598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}