Johnson has ‘numbers’ to pass Brexit deal: Raab

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British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab

London,  British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said, here on Sunday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson had enough MPs’ support to get the Brexit deal passed. “We believe, we’ve got the numbers (to pass the deal) and we’ll keep talking to the DUP, and see if there’s further reassurances that can be provided,” Raab tweeted.

Johnson’s former allies from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) of Northern Ireland and opposition parties have rejected the Brexit deal in its current form.

Raab’s tweet comes a day after MPs, at the first Saturday sitting of the House of Commons since the 1982 Falklands War, voted by 322 to 306 in favour of an amendment withholding the approval of Johnson’s Brexit deal until all the necessary legislation was completed.

After failing to secure votes in Parliament for his new deal, Johnson sent an unsigned letter to European Council President Donald Tusk requesting further delay to Brexit beyond its current deadline of October 31. It was accompanied by a second letter, signed by the British Prime Minister, which said a delay would be a “mistake”.

Johnson, who has vowed to go ahead with the legislation to implement the Brexit deal this week, wants to hold another “meaningful vote” on the Brexit deal on Monday.

However, Commons Speaker John Bercow has said he will not allow the government to ask MPs the same question again, but would consider the matter before ruling on it.