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UK bill blocking no-deal Brexit set to become law

The U.K. House of Lords approved on final reading legislation aimed at preventing a no-deal Brexit on Oct. 31, clearing the way for the bill to become law.

The bill, which cleared the House of Commons on Sept. 4, is expected to receive royal assent early next week, before all parliamentary activity is temporarily suspended. Prime Minister Boris Johnson previously announced that he will prorogue Parliament for five weeks in an attempt to force through his Brexit strategy of an Oct. 31 exit, deal or not.

Under the pending law, Johnson would be required to ask the EU by Oct. 19 to extend the Brexit departure date to Jan. 31, 2020, unless lawmakers approve a withdrawal agreement or agree to a no-deal exit.

Johnson has refused to seek another delay to Brexit and will try for a second time Sept. 9 to trigger an early general election for Oct. 15.

However, U.K. opposition parties will not support the snap election bid by Johnson, who has already lost a working government majority in Parliament, BBC News reported Sept. 6.

Despite recent maneuvers in Parliament, a no-deal Brexit remains a "significant risk" due to the continued political volatility in the U.K., according to Fitch Ratings. The rating agency warned that the economic impact of a no-deal departure would be comparable to the scale of the country's recession in the early 1990s.

A no-deal Brexit on Oct. 31 could reduce the U.K.'s real GDP growth to 0.8% in 2019, followed by an economic contraction of 1.4% in 2020, Fitch said.