

Boris Johnson on charm offensive as he fights to save Brexit deal

He's on the brink of an historic divorce, and after a barnstorming performance in Brussels, Boris Johnson has Brexit within his grasp.
The poisoned chalice he inherited three months ago has suddenly become more palatable, after previously claiming the scalps of two Prime Ministers, David Cameron and Theresa May.
After weeks of intense negotiations, which appeared from the outside to be largely unproductive, the European Union moved at the eleventh hour to approve Mr Johnson's withdrawal agreement which abolishes the Irish backstop and rules out a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will face the biggest test of his reign as PM on Saturday (Getty)
Boris Johnson has surprised everyone by getting a new deal through the EU, now Parliament needs to back him (AAP)
While the British PM now has the EU onside, he still needs to shore up domestic support. The House of Commons is sitting on a weekend for the first time in 37 years to decide whether to back his departure plan.
It will be a mountainous task for the Prime Minister, who is currently ruling with a minority. The magic number he needs for his Brexit deal to pass is 320 votes. While Conservative MPs make up 287 of those, not all those votes are guaranteed.
Ever the optimist, the Prime Minister is confident he'll have the numbers, but also knows he needs to make up plenty of ground.
So he's on a charm offensive, working the phones trying to persuade MPs to get behind him, support the deal and deliver Brexit on October 31.

Related Articles

He's targeting three key groups.
  1. Tory Rebels: Former Tory MPs he kicked out of the party last month after they voted with the Opposition to block a no-deal Brexit.
  2. Tory Brexiteers: Tory MPs who voted against Theresa May's Brexit deal three times.
  3. Labour MPs: A group of rebel Labour MPs who want a deal but are concerned about workers' rights.
If the UK Parliament decides to vote down Johnson's new deal on Saturday, the nation's politicians must then figure out how to extend the Brexit deadline. (AAP)
Despite his optimism, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces a gargantuan battle to win support in hi snation's Parliament on Saturday. (Getty)
Downing Street is casting the Saturday vote as a last chance to get Brexit done with lawmakers facing the option of either approving the deal or propelling the United Kingdom to a disorderly no-deal exit that could divide the West, hurt global growth and trigger violence in Northern Ireland.
To win the vote, Johnson must persuade enough Brexit-supporting rebels in both his own Conservative Party and the opposition Labour Party to back his deal.
Concerned about the potential impact of a no-deal departure, Johnson's opponents have already passed a law demanding he delay Brexit unless he gets a withdrawal deal approved by Saturday.
The government has said both that it will comply with this law and that Britain will leave the EU on October 31 whatever happens.

Send your photos, videos and stories to 9News
