MPs to vote on Brexit deal before Christmas if Boris Johnson wins majority at election

MPs will vote on Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal before Christmas if the Conservatives win a majority at the general election.

The Prime Minister wants to give the country an early Christmas present by asking Parliament to approve his deal on the last weekend before the festive break.

It would mean Britain would be all but guaranteed to leave the EU by Jan 31, giving Mr Johnson 11 months to agree a trade deal with Brussels.

The Conservatives are so keen to get on with holding a vote that if they win a majority they will bring forward a fast-tracked Queen’s Speech on Dec 19, less than a week before Christmas, which could force Her Majesty to postpone her departure for her annual stay at Sandringham.

Details of the timetable for a new Conservative Parliament were released as Mr Johnson said Jeremy Corbyn would reduce the Union to “the status of a bargaining chip” if he formed a coalition with the SNP.

Mr Johnson, who will launch the Scottish Conservatives’ manifesto on Tuesday, will say that Labour would condemn the country to a second EU referendum and a second Scottish independence referendum, at a total cost to the taxpayer of £155 million.

A poll of polls shows the Conservatives enjoying their biggest lead over Labour since 2017, with a 13.5 per cent gap opening up thanks to dwindling support for the Brexit Party.

Preparations are already under way for a Queen’s Speech next month should the Conservatives win a majority on Dec 12.

MPs would be summoned to Parliament on Tues, Dec 17, when a Speaker would be elected and MPs would be sworn in before the Queen’s Speech on Thursday, Dec 19.

Senior Conservative sources said Mr Johnson then plans to introduce his Withdrawal Agreement Bill for its first reading on Friday, Dec 20 - which does not involve a vote - and is considering making MPs sit the next day for the second reading of the Bill, when a debate would be followed by a vote.

With all 635 Tory candidates already signed up to the deal, a Conservative majority would all but guarantee the Bill being approved.

It would mean the Bill reaching the same stage that it did when MPs voted for it at a second reading in October before voting against the Government’s timetable for making it law.

The Bill would have to be introduced again because a new Parliament will be formed next month, but a Conservative majority government would be confident of getting it through the remaining stages of its passage through Parliament without being amended.

Before it could become law it would have to be scrutinised by the House of Lords, meaning it would be January before it gained Royal assent.

However, Tory insiders told The Telegraph that the plans were not yet set in stone. Mr Johnson’s determination to rush the Bill through Parliament would depend on him winning a solid majority; if he returned to power with a majority in single figures he could be forced to adopt a more cautious approach.

The timing of a Conservative Queen’s Speech could clash with the Queen’s winter break travel plans, as she traditionally travels to Norfolk on the last Thursday before Christmas, the same day as the proposed State Opening.

Downing Street said the State Opening would take place “with reduced ceremonial elements...due both to the early general election and the proximity of the State Opening to Christmas”. Dispensing with carriages, elaborate robes and crown would enable the monarch to make a quick getaway for Sandringham after completing her duties.

It would be the first time since 1974 that there have been two State Openings in the same year, and the closest to Christmas for more than 100 years.

If Jeremy Corbyn becomes Prime Minister it would be up to him to set a date for a Queen’s Speech, with January the more likely month.