Saturday’s crunch Brexit vote has been put into jeopardy as UK PM Boris Johnson will reportedly pull a vote on his EU Withdrawal Deal if MPs vote in favor of an amendment bolstering the legislation to prevent a no-deal Brexit.
The amendment, put forward by former Conservative Cabinet minister Sir Oliver Letwin, is predicted to be widely supported, meaning a subsequent vote on Johnson’s deal would not be a meaningful vote to approve it.
If it passes Downing Street will reportedly tell Tory MPs that they can go home rather than stay to participate in the vote, and it will bring forward the legislation required to ratify a deal on Monday, the BBC and other local media reports.
The speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, said on Saturday morning that he had selected Letwin amendment’s for a vote. The proposal would withhold support for Prime Minister Johnson’s Brexit deal until formal ratification legislation has passed.
The amendment is designed to close a potential loophole in the Benn Act, the piece of legislation dubbed the Surrender Bill by Brexiteers, which was designed to prevent the UK leaving the European Union without a deal.
Speaking in the House of Commons on Saturday, Johnson again urged lawmakers to back his deal, saying the public and the EU want to get Brexit done.
Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn responded by imploring MPs to reject the deal, saying it is worse than former Prime Minister Theresa May’s deal and Johnson’s government can’t be trusted.
