Boris urges Britons to read Brexit trade deal after Christmas lunch

London, Dec. 25, (dpa/GNA) – Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson posted a video on Twitter late Thursday with a Christmas reading recommendation – the post-Brexit trade deal agreed with Brussels.

Negotiators sealed a deal on Thursday with days to go until the end of the transition period allotted for trade talks was set to expire.

The full text of the deal – expected to be thousands of pages long – was not immediately released.

“By the way, tonight, on Christmas Eve, I have a small present for anyone who may be looking for something to read in that sleepy post-Christmas lunch moment – and here it is,” Johnson said, turning to retrieve a thick wad of papers from behind him.

“Glad tidings of great joy because this is a deal,” he said.

The previous deal last year that saw Britain officially leave the EU and kick off its transition period was “just the start,” he said.

“This is the feast – full of fish by the way,” he added. One of the key sticking points in the deal was on fishing quotas.

“I believe it will be the basis of a happy and successful and stable partnership with our friends in the EU for years to come,” he said as he punched the air with apparent enthusiasm.

His message of triumph came as many Britons prepare to spend Christmas apart from their loved ones as restrictions have been widely tightened to curb the spread of a new fast-spreading strain of coronavirus.

“We know there will be people alive next Christmas, people we love, alive next Christmas precisely because we made the sacrifice and didn’t celebrate as normal this Christmas,” Johnson said.
GNA