Britain’s Parliament took an important step toward taking the country out of the European Union at the end of January, as lawmakers in the House of Commons voted overwhelmingly to back the Brexit agreement Prime Minister Boris Johnson negotiated with the bloc last year, the Wall Street Journal reported. Lawmakers had backed the deal in December, so Thursday’s decisive vote was a foregone conclusion, given Mr. Johnson’s commanding majority in the Commons. The agreement passed with 330 voting in favor and 231 against. The legislation will now go to Parliament’s upper chamber, the House of Lords, on Monday, where it is expected to be debated for around a week. There is no further practical hurdle to the agreement becoming law in the U.K., given that the House of Lords has limited power to change such legislation. With no amendments in the upper house, the bill would require only Queen Elizabeth II’s signature to become law. Then it needs backing in Brussels, including from the European Parliament, which is also expected to be a formality. That would pave the way for the U.K. to end its 46-year relationship with the EU on the evening of Jan. 31. With the terms of the divorce with the EU all but settled, attention has turned to the nature of the two sides’ future relations. After Jan. 31, the U.K. will keep its practical ties to the EU until at least the end of 2020, while it negotiates new deals to cover their future relationship.
