Johnson’s Brexit pledge dealt hammer blow as MPs 'again voted for delay' by rejecting timetable plan

LATEST: In the wake of this evening’s rejection by the House of Commons of an accelerated timetable to rush through his Brexit Withdrawal deal, Boris Johnson has said: “The House has accepted its responsibilities..” in a “significant moment” for the country.

“Can I say in response how welcome it is, even joyful that for the first time in this long saga, this House has actually accepted its responsibilities together. Come together and embraced a deal," he said.

“I congratulate honourable members across the House on the scale of our collective achievement because just a few weeks ago hardly anybody believed that we could reopen the Withdrawal Agreement, let alone abolish the backstop, that is indeed what they were saying."

However, he said he was disappointed that the House had “again” voted to delay Brexit beyond October 31.

"I must express my disappointment that the House has again voted for delay, rather than a timetable that would have guaranteed that the UK would be in a position to leave the EU on October 31 with a deal.

“And we now face further uncertainty and the EU must make up their minds over how to answer Parliament’s request for a delay and the first consequence Mr Speaker is that the Government must take the only responsible course and accelerate our preparations for a no-deal outcome.”

“One way or another, we will leave the EU with this deal.”

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “On Saturday this House emphatically rejected the Prime Minister’s deal.”

He added: “Tonight the House has refused to be bounced into debating a hugely significant piece of legislation in just two days with barely any notice and analysis of the economic impact of this Bill.

“The Prime Minister is the author of his own misfortune. So I make this offer to him tonight.

Work with us, all of us to agree a reasonable timetable, and I suspect this House will vote to debate, scrutinise and, I hope, commend the detail of this Bill.

"That would be the sensible way forward, and that is the offer I make on behalf of the opposition tonight.”

The SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford said: “The facts of the matter are this is yet another humiliating defeat for the Prime Minister this evening who has sought to railroad through this House legislation that requires proper scrutiny.”

He added: “Furthermore, it is absolutely clear what must now happen, because there is legislation passed by this House, it is the law of the land. On the basis of not agreeing a deal, that the Prime Minister is instructed, instructed Prime Minister to seek an extension.”

Father of the House Ken Clarke said: “Can I ask the Prime Minister and everybody else to reconsider the suggestion he made that we pause the progress of the Bill tomorrow?”

He added: “I can’t quite see the logic of pausing progress on the Bill when the whole House is expecting the next two days to be spent on it.

“It would enable us to see how quickly the House is actually proceeding, what sort of time is being looked for, it may enable then, if people start filibustering, which I hope they won’t, for the Government to get a majority for a timetable motion if it came back which was a modest adjustment to the one he had, because I think three or four days more would certainly do it.”

In response to this evening's proceedings in the Commons, former Lib Dem leader Tim Farron tweeted: “So parliament passed the 2nd reading (without my vote of course) but voted for proper scrutiny so that we don’t commit the country’s future without proper thought… and the PM throws a hissy and says ‘right, no deal it is!’ I’d love it if we were ruled by a grown up…”

So parliament passed the 2nd reading (without my vote of course) but voted for proper scrutiny so that we don’t commit the country’s future without proper thought... and the PM throws a hissy and says ‘right, no deal it is!’ I’d love it if we were ruled by a grown up...

— Tim Farron (@timfarron) October 22, 2019

Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell tweeted:

“Johnson’s attempt to bounce a bad deal through Parliament without proper scrutiny has been rejected. Jeremy Corbyn offered a compromise to Johnson to agree a proper timetable but he has refused. Johnson’s bluff of threatening to call general election tonight was called & ignored.”

Johnson’s attempt to bounce a bad deal through Parliament without proper scrutiny has been rejected. Jeremy Corbyn offered a compromise to Johnson to agree a proper timetable but he has refused. Johnson’s bluff of threatening to call general election tonight was called & ignored.

— John McDonnell MP (@johnmcdonnellMP) October 22, 2019

The division list showed 19 Labour MPs voted for the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill at second reading.

They were joined by 285 Conservatives and 25 Independents.

The list added 217 Labour MPs voted against along with 35 SNP, 19 Lib Dems, 10 DUP, four Plaid Cymru, Green Party MP Caroline Lucas, five Independent Group for Change, and eight Independents.

Update - 7.32pm: British MPs have rejected Boris Johnson’s plan for an accelerated timetable of three days to debate his Withdrawal Agreement Bill, including the tabling of any amendments.

The three-day timetable would have culminated in a vote on the deal before the weekend.

The vote passed by 308 votes for, to 322 votes against, a majority of 14.

Update - 7.17pm: MPs in Britain’s House of Commons have voted to give Boris Johnson's Withdrawal Agreement Bill a second reading.

MPs are also being asked tonight to approve a “programme motion” setting out a three-day timetable for the Bill's passage through the Commons.

Despite a number of MPs saying three days was not enough time to review the wording of the Bill - it runs to 110 pages with another 124 pages of explanatory notes - the house voted tonight to give it a second reading, by 329 votes to 299 votes against.

Earlier today, Boris Johnson told MPs that if the three-day timetable were rejected and the EU confirmed a substantial delay to the October 31 exit date, he would pull the Bill and push for a general election instead.

Earlier: MPs in the House of Commons have begun to gather in advance of tonight's votes on whether to agree to an accelerated parliamentary process to debate and pass or reject Boris Johnson's Withdrawal Agreement Bill.

Boris Johnson has threatened to pull his Brexit deal and call for an early general election if MPs do not vote for his plans as he kicked off a Commons showdown.

Two crucial votes this evening will determine whether Mr Johnson will be able to live up to his “do or die” commitment to take the UK out of the European Union by the October 31 deadline.

MPs will cast their initial vote on the PM’s Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB) before being asked to back his accelerated three-day timetable to hurry the legislation through Parliament.

Earlier, But Mr Johnson told the Commons that he would “in no way allow months more of this” as he called on MPs to work “night and day” to scrutinise his plans and avoid a no-deal departure.

“If Parliament refuses to allow Brexit to happen, and instead gets its way and decides to delay everything until January or possibly longer, in no circumstances can the Government continue with this,” he said.

“And with great regret I must say that the Bill will have to be pulled and we will have to go forward to a general election.”

The threat was dismissed as “childish blackmail” by Liberal Democrat Brexit spokesman Tom Brake.

“MPs shouldn’t be bullied into voting in favour of this ridiculously short timetable,” he added.

Mr Johnson also warned that failure to back his plans would be “closing the path to leaving with a deal on October 31 and opening the path to a no-deal in nine days time”.

Urging MPs to vote for the programme motion, he said: “Doing anything else would, I am afraid, mean this House abdicating its responsibilities and handing over to the EU Council what happens next.”

A programme motion is thought to have only been defeated once before – on House of Lords reform in 2012 – and the Bill was then scrapped.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he would vote against both aspects and accused the PM of “trying to blindside” Parliament with a “disgraceful attempt to dodge accountability, scrutiny, and any kind of proper debate”.

But there was a sign the PM’s threat may be effective when Oliver Letwin, an exiled Tory who has been key in efforts to thwart a no-deal, said he was “seriously worried” the Bill would be pulled if the timetable was voted down.

“Surely best for all of us who regard this deal as the least of the evils to vote for the programme motion, whatever we really think of it,” he added.