General election 2019: Boris Johnson’s Brexit bill planned for Friday

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The government plans to ask MPs to vote on Boris Johnson’s Brexit bill on Friday, Downing Street has said.

The PM’s spokesman said the government planned to start the process in Parliament before Christmas and will do so “in discussion with the Speaker”.

The withdrawal agreement bill is the legislation that will enable Brexit to happen – the UK is due to leave the EU on 31 January.

It comes as the PM prepares to address his new MPs in Westminster later.

Many of the 109 new Conservative MPs won in areas traditionally held by Labour in Thursday’s election, which saw the Conservatives gain an 80-seat majority.

Mr Johnson is also expected to carry out a mini cabinet reshuffle.

He needs to fill posts made vacant by those who stood down ahead of the general election, including the culture and Welsh secretary posts.

The prime minister has also cleared a parliamentary report into alleged Russian interference in UK democracy for publication.

The Queen will formally open Parliament on Thursday when she sets out the government’s legislative programme.

On Monday, the prime minister’s official spokesman told a Westminster briefing: “We plan to start the process [of the withdrawal agreement bill] before Christmas and will do so in the proper constitutional way in discussion with the Speaker.”

Asked if the legislation would be identical to that introduced in the last Parliament, the spokesman said: “You will have to wait for it to be published but it will reflect the agreement that we made with the EU on our withdrawal.”

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With the large majority, the bill is expected to pass through Parliament in time to meet Boris Johnson’s promise for the UK to leave the EU on 31 January.

Mr Johnson then has to negotiate a new trade agreement with the EU and have it ratified before the end of the post-Brexit transition period that ends on 31 December 2020. He has repeatedly said that the transition period will not be extended.

The Queen’s Speech is also expected to include legislation linked to pledges made during the election campaign – most notably a guarantee on NHS funding.

The prime minister’s spokesman has also said Mr Johnson has “carefully considered” a report from the Commons Intelligence and Security Committee into alleged Russian interference in UK democracy.

“He is content publication would not prejudice the functions of those bodies that safeguard our national security,” the spokesman said.

“Publication will be a matter for the new ISC in due course.”

Elsewhere, moves to get the Northern Ireland government at Stormont up and running again are also expected, with talks resuming on Monday.

New Conservative MPs have been posting pictures of themselves on their first day including the members for Bishop Auckland and Stoke-on-Trent North – Dehenna Davison and Jonathan Gullis.

Meanwhile, the fallout from Labour’s defeat continues.

Labour’s general secretary says party officials are likely to meet early in the new year to agree the timetable for replacing Jeremy Corbyn as leader.

Mr Corbyn wants the process to begin “swiftly”, Jennie Formby said, so his successor can be in place by the end of March.

She has written to members of Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC) recommending a provisional date of 6 January for the meeting, with the process beginning the following day.

• Who will be Labour’s next leader?
• Labour leadership takes blame over election result

Both Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell said on Sunday that they took the blame for Labour’s “catastrophic” defeat in Thursday’s election.

Speaking to the Today programme, shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald accused the BBC of having “played your part” in Mr Corbyn’s defeat and said the corporation needed to “have a look in the mirror”.

Meanwhile, MP Stephen Kinnock told BBC Breakfast the main problems were “weak and incompetent leadership” as well as the decision to support another Brexit referendum and a “Christmas wishlist” manifesto.

The race for their replacements has already begun, with Wigan MP Lisa Nandy saying for the first time she was “seriously thinking about” running.

Other possible contenders are shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer, shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey, shadow education secretary Angela Rayner, Jess Phillips, who is an outspoken critic of Jeremy Corbyn, and shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry.

A new intake of 47 SNP MPs will also be taking their seats on Tuesday.

Leader Nicola Sturgeon has insisted this number gives her a mandate for a second referendum on Scottish independence – something the prime minster has told her he remains opposed to.

She said the Conservatives, who lost seven of their 13 seats in Scotland, had been “defeated comprehensively” and that the new MPs would continue to press for independence.

What will happen this week?

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Tuesday

Proceedings begin when MPs gather for their first duty: to elect the Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, who replaced John Bercow in November. Technically, MPs can hold a vote on this motion but this has never happened in practice.

Later in the day, the Speaker will begin the process of swearing in MPs, who are required to take an oath of allegiance to the Crown, or, if they object to this, a solemn affirmation. Those who speak or vote without having done so are deprived of their seat “as if they were dead” under the Parliamentary Oaths Act of 1866.

Two to three days are usually set aside for this process.

Thursday

The state opening of Parliament. The Queen’s Speech is the centrepiece of this, when she will read a speech written by ministers setting out the government’s programme of legislation for the parliamentary session. A couple of hours after the speech is delivered, MPs will begin debating its contents – a process which usually takes days.

Friday

Depending on how rapidly Boris Johnson wants to move, the debate on the Queen’s Speech could continue into Friday.

The government will introduce the Withdrawal Agreement Bill – the legislation that will implement Brexit – to Parliament.

MPs in the previous Parliament backed Boris Johnson’s bill at its first stage but rejected his plan to fast-track the legislation through Parliament in three days in order to leave the EU by the then 31 October Brexit deadline.

After the debate on the Queen’s Speech is concluded, MPs will vote on whether to approve it. Not since 1924 has a government’s Queen Speech been defeated.

Read more from the BBC’s parliamentary correspondent, Mark D’Arcy