Consulting group Eurasia forecasts narrow defeat for Brexit deal in parliament

Reuters
Updated

WASHINGTON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Consulting firm Eurasia Group on Thursday predicted British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal would be narrowly defeated in a parliamentary vote on Saturday.

"Without the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), Johnson appears to be between 15 and 20 votes short of the 320 votes needed to guarantee victory; he will focus efforts between now and Saturday on wooing the European Research Group (ERG), the ex-Conservatives, and Labour," the consulting group said.

After several days of negotiations, Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday said that Britain and the EU had agreed a "great" new Brexit deal, but it must still be approved by the British parliament. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said he would recommend the EU's speedy approval of the agreement. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal Editing by Alexandra Hudson)