United Kingdom and Gibraltar European Union membership referendum
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Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn have fought hard to fight off the election campaign. In what was probably the last question time prior to the planned new election on December 12, Prime Minister Johnson accused his adversary of jeopardizing the country's economic power with its plans for tax increases and nationalization.
Opposition leader Corbyn of the Labor Party, on the other hand, accused Johnson of heading to sell off the country with a planned trade deal with the US. Both promised to invest in the National Health Service NHS.
The lower house had last voted for a law on the new election on 12 December. The law has since been approved by the House of Lords (for an overview of the positions of the parties in the election campaign, see here).
According to polls, Johnson's conservatives are well ahead of the Labor party. But unlike Labor, the Tories have no chance of being supported by another party as a minority government. It is not ruled out that again, none of the major parties will achieve an absolute majority of mandates.
UK Parliament / Jessica Taylor / Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS / REUTERS
Johnson's adversary Jeremy Corbyn: "sell-out" of the country
Johnson's planned Brexit deal will cost the UK economy around 81 billion euros in the coming years, according to a recent study. The gross domestic product will be about 3.5 percent lower in ten years than in the case of EU membership of the United Kingdom, said the Independent Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR) in London. Every year, the economy will decline by 3 percent, which corresponds approximately to the economic power of Wales.
The government rejected the results. She is planning a "more ambitious" free trade agreement with the EU than the study foresees, British media quoted a spokesman for the Ministry of Finance.
The Institute emphasized, however, that agreement on the agreed deal "would reduce the risks of a disorderly exit but prevent the possibility of a closer trade relationship with the EU." One reason for the economic downturn is declining investment. A no-deal Brexit would even push the economy back by 5.6 percent, according to the authors.
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Opposition parties cited the study as proof that Johnson's Brexit plan was badly damaging the domestic economy. "We know that no deal is as good as the one we currently have as a member of the EU," said Brexit Commissioner for pro-European Liberal Democrats, Tom Brake.
Question time in the lower house took an unusually long time. Parliament President John Bercow, who will leave office this Thursday, had to fight back tears as he thanked his family for their support.
John Bercow in a video portrait: The speaker leaves the stage
AFP Photo / Jessica Taylor / UK Parliament
