UK: Johnson urges MPs to 'heal rift' ahead of vote on latest Brexit deal

W/S UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson; MPs, House of Commons, London
SOT, Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister: "The House has gone to a great deal of trouble to assemble here on a Saturday for the first time in a generation. And I do hope that in assembling for the purposes of a meaningful vote that we will indeed be allowed to have a meaningful vote this evening."
M/S Johnson speaking *СUTAWAY*
SOT, Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister: "If we have been half-hearted Europeans, then it follows logically that with part of our hearts, with half our hearts, we feel something else, a sense of love and respect for European culture and civilisation, of which we are a part, a desire to co-operate with our friends and partners in everything, creatively, artistically, intellectually, a sense of our shared destiny and a deeper understanding of the eternal need, especially after the horrors of the last century, for Britain to stand as one of the guarantors of peace and democracy in our continent. And it is our continent, and it's precisely because we are capable of feeling both things at once - sceptical about the modes of EU integration, as we are, but passionate and enthusiastic about Europe, that the whole experience of the last three and a half years has been so difficult for this country and so divisive."
M/S Johnson speaking *СUTAWAY*
SOT, Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister: "That is why, it is now so urgent for us to move on and to build a new relationship with our friends in the EU on the basis of a new deal, a deal that can heal the rifting British politics, unite the warring instincts in our soul. And now is the time for this great House of Commons to come together and bring the country together today, as I believe people at home are hoping and expecting, with a new way forward and a new and better deal both for Britain and for our friends in the EU. And that is the advantage of the agreement that we've struck with our friends in the last two days, because this deal allows the UK whole and entire to leave the EU on October 31, in accordance with the referendum while simultaneously looking forward to a new partnership based on the closest ties of friendship and co-operation."
W/S Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn; MPs
SOT, Jeremy Corbyn, Labour Party leader: "He has re-negotiated the Withdrawal Agreement and made it even. He has re-negotiated the Political Declaration and made that even worse. We're having a debate today on a text for which there is no economic impact assessment and no accompanying legal advice. This government has sought to avoid scrutiny throughout the process and yesterday evening made empty promises on workers' rights and the environment. The same government that spent the last few weeks negotiating in secret to remove from the Withdrawal Agreement legally binding commitments on workers' rights and the environment. This government cannot be trusted and these benches will not be duped."
M/S Corbyn speaking *CUTAWAY*
SOT, Jeremy Corbyn, Labour Party leader: "Voting for a deal today won't end Brexit. It won't deliver certainty and the people should have the final say. Labour is not prepared to sell out the communities that we represent. We are not prepared to sell out their future and we will not back this sell-out deal. This is about our communities now and our future generations."
W/S MPs
SCRIPT
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson addressed the House of Commons in London on Saturday, as MPs met to debate and vote on the latest Brexit deal agreed between UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the EU.
Johnson stressed that that new deal "can heal the rifting British politics," adding that "now is the time for this great House of Commons to come together and bring the country together today."
He went on to say that the new deal "allows the UK whole and entire to leave the EU on October 31, in accordance with the referendum while simultaneously looking forward to a new partnership based on the closest ties of friendship and co-operation."
Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn challenged the prime minister, arguing that "he has re-negotiated the Withdrawal Agreement and made it even."
Corbyn said that "we will not back this sell-out deal," noting that "voting for a deal today won't end Brexit."
This special parliamentary session, the first to be held on a Saturday since the Falklands War, comes less than two weeks before the Brexit deadline of October 31.