LONDON - Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged Britain's newly-elected parliament to bury years of wrangling over Brexit by voting Friday for his EU divorce deal.
The lower House of Commons is all but certain to give its initial approval to the agreement, paving the way for Johnson to deliver on his winning general election pledge to "get Brexit done" by January 31.
But it will also push London and Brussels closer to another cliff edge on unfettered trade when the transition period shuts at the end of 2020.
A snap election last week gave Johnson's pro-Brexit Conservatives a thumping majority in parliament, largely at the expense of the main opposition Labour party led by the Brexit-neutral Jeremy Corbyn.
It dispelled doubts over whether Britain would indeed become the first nation to leave the European Union, following the 2016 referendum vote to quit the bloc.
"Now is the time to act together as one reinvigorated nation, one United Kingdom, filled with renewed confidence in our national destiny and determined at last to take advantage of the opportunities that now lie before us," Johnson told MPs.
"It will be done. It will be over. The sorry story of the last three and a half years will be at an end and we will be able to move forward."
The withdrawal agreement bill was facing its second reading on Friday.
A final vote on Johnson's separation terms will come when lawmakers return from their Christmas break early next month.
The EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said on Tuesday that the bloc "will do the maximum" to meet the end-of-2020 deadline. (AFP)