U.K. Parliament overwhelmingly backs Brexit deal

After more than four years of intense debate, the final step in the long, winding Brexit saga went smoothly for the United Kingdom's Parliament, which overwhelmingly backed a recently agreed-upon trade deal with the European Union. The approval, which was mostly a formality by this point, frees up the country to exit the bloc in a much more orderly fashion on Jan. 1 than if no deal had been reached.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson signed the deal after the 521 to 73 vote.

Johnson did have support from most opposition Labour MPs, though a few broke with party leadership and voted against the deal, joining members from the Scottish Nationalist, Liberal Democrat, and Democratic Unionist parties, reports the Financial Times.

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The deal also got a unanimous stamp of approval from the 27 EU member states, and while it still requires a vote from the EU parliament, the bloc's laws allow it to take effect provisionally. Read more at the Financial Times.