MPs could sit in the House of Commons on Christmas Eve should they be required to pass any Brexit deal which emerges from negotiations with the EU, speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has said.
Under current plans, the Commons will stop sitting on 21 December, but the speaker said the recess would be delayed for such vital legislation.
It would mean MPs would only get three days of the Christmas “bubble” for family visits, in which three households are allowed to mix indoors between 23 and 27 December.
“I would like to believe that we will all be going up on the date that’s expected of the House,” Sir Linsday told Sky News. “But if needs be, the House is the servant and I am happy as being that servant to ensure we can run, as far as I’m concerned, even up to Christmas Eve.”
Reports suggest MPs may even be needed beyond Christmas Eve, since a Brexit deal could potentially emerge in the final days before the transition period ends on 31 December.
“Parliament has shown it is able to move quickly if it needs to and that certainly applies here for sure,” a government source told The Sun. “Parliament won’t be the block on passing a Brexit deal this time around. We’ll sit through the Christmas week if needed.”
“In a scenario where we reached an agreement with the EU and implementation has to happen before the end of the transition period, we’re confident parliament would implement it in time.”
A UK-EU trade deal is looking less likely after Wednesday evening’s dinner discussion involving Boris Johnson and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. ended without any progress.
Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen
” height=”3371″ width=”5056″ srcset=”https://static.independent.co.uk/2020/12/09/20/GettyImages-1230035546.jpg?width=320 320w, https://static.independent.co.uk/2020/12/09/20/GettyImages-1230035546.jpg?width=640 640w” layout=”responsive” i-amphtml-layout=”responsive”> Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen (Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
The pair agreed that a “firm decision” about the future of the negotiations should be made by Sunday. Foreign secretary Dominic Raab suggested on Thursday that the new deadline had a sense of “finality” about it.
“Sunday I think is an important moment. You never say never in these talks, but I think we do need to get some finality,” said Mr Raab.
Communities secretary Robert Jenrick said: “Sunday would be the decision point for the prime minister and president Von der Leyen as to whether there is ultimately a deal to be done or whether we need to accept that the disagreements are too great and we need to move forward in another direction.”
The transition period finishes on 31 December and any deal would have to be ratified by the European Council and the European parliament, as well as the UK parliament.
