Brexit deal set to become law as MPs overwhelmingly back the agreement after more than four years of wrangling but Holyrood refuses give its consent
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MPs have backed the UK's post-Brexit trade deal with the EU in the Houses of Parliament by a huge majority.
The European Union (Future Relationship) Bill was rushed through after Parliament was recalled and was passed by the Commons in a vote by 521 to 73.
It means the UK will sever its ties with Brussels 11pm on Thursday with a trade deal in place thus avoiding having to adopt WTO terms for trade, which it was feared would have greatly damaged both sides’ economies.
It brings to an end the saga that has dominated UK politics since the vote on EU membership four and half years ago that cost at least two Prime Ministers their jobs.
The latest deal took nine months to come to dramatic fruition on Christmas eve, just days before the transition period was due to end after Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed to deliver an agreement that even the hardcore of Eurosceptic Conservative MPs could accept.
The agreement outlines the terms for a new business and security relationship between the UK and the European Unions, its biggest trading partner.
Mr Johnson said: “By signing this deal, we fulfill the sovereign wish of the British people to live under their own laws, made by their own elected Parliament."
It appears the majority of Labour MPs voted for the agreement after leader Keir Starmer argued that a "thin deal was better than no deal" despite campaigning to remain within the EU.
But there was vociferous opposition from the SNP led by their Westminster leader, Highland MP Ian Blackford who accused the Labour party of being “missing in action.”
He said: “Scottish wishes ignored, our fishing industry shafted and our economy rocked by Boris Johnson with a hard Tory Brexit.
“Yet, we are meant to laud this deal as a triumph? No amount of Tory spin will cover up these betrayals in the real world. Independence is coming, Europe is waiting.”
In the Scottish Parliament, MSPs refused to consent to the new legislation, which without being legally binding, does set down a marker about what Holyrood does not support.
Again the vote was carried by an overwhelming majority with the SNP, Scottish Labour, Liberal Democrats and Greens backing the call to refuse assent and calling for more time to scrutinise what the agreement contained.
But the move by the SNP to vote against the deal sparked political uproar as the Conservatives slammed First Minister Nicola Sturgeon for the stance they claimed was a no-deal scenario.
Ms Sturgeon in turn labelled the deal "a rotten Brexit that Scotland has rejected all along."
