LONDON (AP) — The Latest on Brexit (all times local):
3:40 p.m.
Spain’s foreign minister says he expects Brexit deal negotiations to go down to the wire and he thinks it’s up to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to provide a happy ending.
Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell said in an interview with The Associated Press on Monday that preventing a chaotic no-deal Brexit doesn’t depend on European Union negotiator Michel Barnier, but whether Johnson brings a different attitude to Brussels.
The EU has been dismayed by Johnson’s hard-line pro-Brexit language at home and apparent unwillingness to veer far from his last proposals for a deal.
Borrell said: “In Spain, we will do our utmost to avoid the situation, but if Mr. Johnson continues having the same attitude that he has been displaying at home, it is going to be very difficult.”
“I hope he will change,” Borrell said. “If he does, then I am sure that Mr. Barnier will also be in this mood.”
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12:05 a.m.
The British government says it will end free movement from the European Union in 2021 as part of post-Brexit immigration reforms.
Plans for an immigration bill have been announced Monday in the Queen’s Speech, which outlines the programs of new Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government.
Under the legislation, EU citizens moving to Britain after January 2021 will lose their automatic right to settle in Britain and will be treated in the same way as citizens from non-EU nations.
The government says the new points-based system will select immigrants based on their skills and their potential contribution to the U.K.
Under the proposals, all 3.4 million EU citizens living in the U.K. now can stay.
The plans depend on Britain leaving the EU with a withdrawal agreement — something that remains uncertain.
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11:40 a.m.
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II has arrived at Parliament for the ceremonial state opening ceremony and given her speech.
The queen was driven the mile or so from Buckingham Palace in the horse-drawn Diamond Jubilee State Coach for the ceremony, in which the monarch outlines the government’s program for the coming year.
She spoke before the House of Lords to an audience of peers in ermine-trimmed scarlet robes and lawmakers in modern dress.
The queen has performed this duty more than 60 times during her 67-year reign. The speech, written for the monarch by government officials, gives a brisk rundown of more than 20 laws Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s administration hopes to pass in the coming months.
But uncertainty around Britain’s departure from the European Union due on Oct. 31 and the possibility of an early election makes it uncertain any of these measures will ever become law.
