Boris Johnson’s Brexit trade deal with Europe has passed in the House of Commons
MPs voted 521 to 73 to send the Bill to the Lords after a five-hour debate on the various details of bill.
It now must pass through the House of Lords in one day ahead of receiving Royal Assent.
The UK will sever its ties with the EU at 23.00 GMT on Thursday, four and a half years after the Brexit referendum.
The agreement hammered out with Brussels over nine months sets out a new business and security relationship between the UK and its biggest trading partner.
The prime minister has formally signed the post-Brexit trade deal with the EU, describing it as a “new beginning”.
He said: “I want everybody to understand that the treaty that I’ve just signed is not the end, it is a new beginning,”
“I think the beginning of what will be a wonderful relationship between the UK and our friends and partners in the European Union.”
The PM then said he had read the agreement and described it as “an excellent deal.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel signed the document earlier in Brussels.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said that while the agreement is “thin” with “many flaws”, the alternative is to leave the EU single market and customs union with no agreement, pushing up prices and driving businesses to the wall.
All other opposition parties voted against the deal.
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said the deal would “undermine our children’s future”, while the SNP’s Ian Blackford said Scotland’s fishing industry had been “betrayed” and the country’s future “must be European”.
The European Parliament has begun its scrutiny of the agreement but will not get a chance to ratify it before the UK leaves the EU single market and customs union at 2300 GMT on Thursday.
