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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Haroon Siddique and Claire Phipps

Brexit: 'I will not negotiate a delay with the EU,' Boris Johnson tells MPs after vote defeat – as it happened

Summary

Thank you for following the blog today and for all your comments. Here is a summary of the day’s main developments.

  • Boris Johnson has until 11pm to request an extension to Brexit from the EU after losing a vote on an amendment tabled by Oliver Letwin. The Letwin amendment, which puts a brake on Brexit, was passed by 322 votes to 306.
  • The prime minister insisted he would “not negotiate a delay with the EU, and neither does the law compel me to do so”. Jeremy Corbyn told him he must comply with the law and the SNP’s Ian Blackford warned Johnson could end up in court.
  • The leader of the house, Jacob Rees-Mogg, said another meaningful vote would be held on Monday. But the Speaker, John Bercow, indicated he might not allow this as it would be “curious or irregular” attempt to “invalidate” the result of today’s vote.
  • Bercow also indicated that he could write the letter to the EU requesting an extension if instructed to by a judge or MPs. No 10 has yet to clarify whether Johnson will send the letter.
  • The People’s Vote campaign claims 1 million people have joined a march in London demanding they get a say on any Brexit deal. John McDonnell, Caroline Lucas and Anna Soubry were among those who addressed the crowds after the parliamentary vote.

Updated

Here’s what Gina Miller – who has won two legal challenges against the government over Brexit – said about today.

Updated

Police are stood round a group singing Rule Britannia, chanting: “Oh Tommy Tommy (Robinson)” and calling for a no-deal Brexit as pro-EU protesters are singing: “Bollocks to Brexit.”

Updated

The shadow home secretary, Diane Abbott, also needed a police escort today. In her case it was after addressing the People’s Vote march and being followed by pro-Brexit supporters.

Updated

Another response, this time from the the taoiseach:

Here is what the European parliament’s representative on Brexit has said about today’s events:

Updated

The leader of the house, Jacob Rees-Mogg, has also been given a police escort leaving parliament.

The business secretary, Andrea Leadsom, was escorted by police as she left the House of Commons to the sound of protesters on the People’s Vote march shouting: “Shame on you.”

Updated

Having left the Commons after the Letwin amendment was passed, a number of MPs have been addressing the People’s Vote march.

Updated

The decision by MPs to pass the Letwin amendment brings the legal action against the prime minister which resumes on Monday in Scotland’s highest civil court into sharp relief.

The court of session will resume its hearing into a request for an emergency interdict, or injunction, to force Johnson to send the Brexit extension letter required by the Benn act.

Johnson told the Commons on Saturday he was not legally required to do so – a position the court is now likely to test on Monday.

Ten days ago, Scotland’s most senior judge, Lord Carloway, sitting with Lords Drummond-Young and Brodie, postponed a decision on enforcing the act’s provisions because they did not then know whether Johnson would have to uphold its provisions or would fail to do so.

That case, brought by Dale Vince, the millionaire owner of the Ecotricity green energy company, Jolyon Maugham QC, the anti-Brexit campaigner, and Joanna Cherry QC, the SNP MP will resume at noon on Monday.

If Johnson has failed to send the letter as required, by 11pm tonight, the court is expected to rule on Monday on whether to give Johnson 24 hours to do so or face being held in contempt of court.

Legal sources believe the prime minister is in significant legal peril. Lawyers for the UK government told the court on 9 October they knew the solemn pledges given at an earlier hearing that Johnson would comply with the act were legally binding.

The UK government told the court of session on Friday 4 October the prime minister accepted “he is subject to the public law principle that he cannot frustrate its purpose or the purpose of its provisions. Thus he cannot act so as to prevent the letter requesting the specified extension in the act from being sent.”

And the court will also adjudicate on a second part of the application: an interdict forcing the UK government not to frustrate or undermine the intent of the letter, by attempting to sidestep the extension move.

If he or his ministers, or their proxies, try to subvert the request for an extension – say by sending a second letter asking the EU to ignore the extension application, they will also be at risk of contempt.

It is only if Johnson fails to send the letter and fails to adhere to the court’s interdict requiring him to do so that the court will consider the nuclear option. It has unique powers called nobile officium, which allow the court or its agent to send that letter to all 27 EU member states and institutions on Johnson’s behalf.

Those powers have never been used in such a way, and if the Scottish court uses them, it would provoke another extraordinary constitutional confrontation. Assuming the court issues a definitive ruling next week, the case is expected to end up in the UK supreme court within days.

Updated

Proceedings in the House of Commons have now been adjourned after a lengthy discussion about what happens next following the government’s defeat on the Letwin amendment.

Many opposition MPs were unhappy at the prospect of the government tabling another meaningful vote for Monday. It was unclear whether the Speaker, John Bercow, would grant this.

Last year, the Speaker said the government could not keep bringing back the same question to parliament in the hope that they got a different answer.

Updated

The independent - former Labour - MP Jared O’Mara voted for the Letwin amendment, as did the vast majority of Labour MPs.

The leader of the house, Jacob Rees-Mogg, suggested there could be a meaningful vote on the Brexit deal on Monday. This was then supported by Oliver Letwin, whose amendment prevented it happening today.

But it is for the Speaker, John Bercow, to decide whether to allow that motion on Monday and he gave the strongest indication he would not.

Earlier, as the benches emptied out after the vote, the SNP’s Joanna Cherry QC asked Bercow if he would write the letter requesting an extension if the prime minister did not do so.

He said he would do so if asked by the judge or MPs.

Updated

Here is what the Conservatives are saying:

A spokeswoman for the European commission said it was up to the UK government to make the next move after the developments in the Commons. She said:

The European commission takes note of the vote in the House of Commons today on the so-called Letwin amendment meaning that the withdrawal agreement itself was not put to vote today. It will be for the UK government to inform us about the next steps as soon as possible.

A spokesman for the European council president, Donald Tusk, declined to comment. Ambassadors for the EU27 will meet on Sunday morning to discuss the latest developments.

Updated

More from the march ...

Boris Johnson has until 11pm to send that extension letter to the EU.

Organisers of the “people’s vote” march say there are 1 million people in attendance, my colleague Aamna Mohdin tells me.

Updated

Here is Boris Johnson’s response to the government defeat on the amendment:

Updated

You can see how everyone voted here.

Updated

As they go on debating whether the PM can be forced to write the letter to the EU requesting an extension, No 10 is keeping mum.

Updated

This was the reaction on the “people’s vote” march:

Updated

Here is a celebratory selfie by a Lib Dem MP with the Green party’s Caroline Lucas.

Oliver Letwin says he will be voting for the deal with the intention that the UK leaves the EU on 31 October, and can now do so with the knowledge that if the bill does not pass in time, the UK will not crash out.

The DUP’s Nigel Dodds says the party will examine the deal in detail and its priority will remain the integrity of the union.

Updated

The Lib Dem leader, Jo Swinson, says the deal is a bad deal and the public deserve to have a say.

The most urgent thing now is that the prime minister complies with the law.

She asks for parliament to be suspended so that Boris Johnson can send a letter asking the EU for a suspension and then come back to parliament and confirm that he has sent it. This request is declined by the Speaker.

Updated

Corbyn calls on Johnson to reconsider what he has said about not asking for an extension.

The SNP’s leader in Westminster, Ian Blackford, asks the Speaker what can be done to ensure the government complies with the law and the Benn act.

Blackford says Johnson thinks “he’s above the law” but will find himself in court if he doesn’t abide by it.

Updated

The PM says it was “pretty close” today and he hopes MPs will accept his deal next week in “overwhelming numbers”.

I continue to commend this deal to the house.

Jeremy Corbyn says that parliament has spoken.

It is an emphatic decision by this house ... The prime minister must now comply with the law.

He says Johnson can no longer use the threat of a no-deal crash-out to blackmail MPs.

Updated

Boris Johnson thanks everyone for giving up their time but says “alas”, the opportunity to have a meaningful vote has been passed up.

He says he is not dismayed by the result.

He continues in the strong belief that the best thing for the UK and the EU is to leave on 31 October.

I will not negotiate a delay with the EU and neither does the law compel me to do so.

The legislation will be introduced next week, says Johnson.

Updated

Letwin amendment passes

The government loses.

322 to 306.

This withholds approval of the prime minister’s deal until the legislation to enact it – the EU withdrawal bill – is passed.

Updated

Labour think they’ve won...

Here’s what people are saying about the Letwin amendment vote:

MPs are now voting on the Letwin amendment.

Michael Gove is up taking a conciliatory tone, stressing that he accepts everyone is acting in what he thinks are the best interests of the country.

But he says those he respects most are those from both benches who voted to remain but now are voting for the deal because it is the will of the British people.

On that basis, he says the speech that stood out was that by Theresa May who voted for remain but now wants to honour the result of the referendum.

Gove says MPs should be prepared to put aside “our perfect Brexit” for the sake of the common good.

He says if there is a vote to delay people will feel that parliament has shirked its responsibilities.

Asked a question about how the government will avoid a no deal if it is passed but legislation is not passed on time, Gove says the best way to avoid that is to vote for the government’s deal.

If the amendment is passed there will be no meaningful vote today, he says.

If parliament votes for the deal unamended people will feel “like a cloud has lifted”, he claims.

Another Tory who had the whip withdrawn has confirmed he will vote for Boris Johnson’s deal.

As the Brexit debate continues, so do Ukip’s travails.

It has taken steps to suspend its leader, Richard Braine, amid a fresh power struggle within the party, my colleague Aaron Walawalkar writes.

Updated

A man has been arrested for trespass within the Palace of Westminster.

Antoinette Sandbach, who had the Tory whip withdrawn last month, says she will back the Letwin amendment.

Making the point that she has voted for a Brexit deal more times than the prime minister, she says Johnson’s deal is “substantially worse”:

I’m not saying much about the deal. I was always taught that if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing.

She also says she would vote for an amendment in favour of a “people’s vote” if there was an opportunity to do so.

Updated

The Lib Dems’ Tom Brake says the PM is a “colourful Pied Piper” who struck the deal to further his own ambition.

Brake says Boris Johnson himself has said the deal may not survive the transition period and could still lead to a no-deal crash-out.

He advocates a people’s vote, referencing “the hundreds of thousands of people over there in Parliament Square”.

Brake urges MPs to support the Letwin amendment and reject the deal.

Demonstrators with placards and EU and inion flags gather in Parliament Square
Demonstrators with placards and EU and union flags gather in Parliament Square. Photograph: Isabel Infantes/AFP via Getty Images

Updated

The Tory MP and former cabinet member Liam Fox says the amendment will not take EU off the table, as the government would be forced to ask the EU for any extension. The only way to prevent no deal is to vote for the PM’s deal, says Fox.

He says the government made a contract with the British people.

It’s a question of faith in our electoral system itself.

He says he has “strong reservations” about the deal but it’s time to deliver. Fox also voted three times for Theresa May’s deal.

Updated

The veteran Tory Eurosceptic Bill Cash has confirmed he will vote for the deal. He was a doubt for the government.

Updated

While the debate goes on in parliament ...

The Speaker, John Bercow, had placed a five-minute rule on contributions from MPs. He has now reduced it to three minutes.

Chris Grayling uses his time to pay tribute to the prime minister and urge people to accept the deal.

Grayling also warns the Letwin amendment, if passed, may cause the house to decline to decide on a deal today.

Updated

The DUP’s Sammy Wilson made a furious contribution in which he also suggested the party’s MPs would back the Letwin amendment.

Updated

More from the march.

Ken Clarke, former Tory chancellor, home secretary and more, says what we have before us is “undoubtedly a bad deal” and worse than that proposed by Theresa May.

But now the choice is very real.

He says he’s worried that the purpose of the convoluted agreement over Ireland was so the rest of the UK could be taken out of the customs union straight away.

The Canada deal took nine years to put in place, says Clarke. But he says all along he has been determined to avoid a no-deal Brexit.

We should support this deal.

Ken Clarke speaks at the House of Commons as parliament discusses Brexit, sitting on a Saturday for the first time since the 1982 Falklands War
Ken Clarke speaks at the House of Commons as parliament discusses Brexit, sitting on a Saturday for the first time since the 1982 Falklands War Photograph: Reuters Tv/Reuters

Updated

Some pro-Brexit protesters have been ushered away from the People’s Vote march.

Updated

Labour’s Peter Kyle responds to Theresa May, saying there was a promise not to create a border in the Irish Sea but that is what has happened.

He also says the original referendum was ill-defined. If you want to know what the British people think now: “Ask them.”

The Lib Dems’ Sam Gyimah (formerly of the Conservatives of course) asks Kyle if he agrees that any deal should be put to a people’s vote.

Kyle says he voted for three different versions of Brexit but it’s got to the point that there are so many different versions of Brexit that there is “irreconcilable division” in the house. The public must have a say, he concludes.

Updated

Theresa May speaks. She tells a slightly stodgy anecdote about Jonny May scoring two tries for England in the rugby.

Saying she feels a sense of déjà vu, May says:

I intend to rebel against all of those who don’t want to vote to deliver Brexit.

She says the SNP has a history of rejecting the results of referendums. The former prime minister says if parliament doesn’t back the deal “it is guilty of the most egregious con tricks on the British people”.

If you don’t want no deal you have to vote for a deal. Businesses are crying out for certainty. People want certainty in their lives.

She concludes by saying if you want the country to move forward, vote for the deal today.

Theresa May urged the Commons to support Boris Johnson’s deal

Updated

More from the People’s Vote march.

Gareth Ellner, 37, dressed up as a Brexit unicorn called “Sunlit uplands”, said:

I like dressing up and I thought we have been promised the unicorn and I thought it’s right for everyone to get a unicorn.

Ellner said he’s worried by the events taking place in parliament.

I’m concerned that Boris has told enough lies to enough people to get it [the deal] through.

He is still holding out hope for a second referendum.

We didn’t know what we were voting to. I am ashamedly one of the voters who voted leave because I thought screw David Cameron. I was politically naive but recent events have made me more political active.”

One man pointed to Ellner’s costume and asked: “It’s not a sexual thing?” before taking a photo with him.

Updated

The former Labour MP Jared O’Mara, who had said he would resign from parliament in September, has been spotted in the house.

The SNP leader in Westminster, Ian Blackford, says the deal gives Northern Ireland a competitive advantage over Scotland. He says Northern Ireland is effectively being kept in the customs union, which is what Scotland wanted.

This prime minister and his Brexit fan club in No 10 don’t care about Scotland.

He says it was “dishonesty and lies” by Vote Leave that brought this country to vote for Brexit.

This is the beginning and end of their precious union.

Whether the deal is passed or not today, an extension is needed and there should be an election to get rid of this “rotten government”, says Blackford.

Ian Blackford, leader of the SNP in Westminster, speaks in the House of Commons as parliament discusses Brexit
Ian Blackford, leader of the SNP in Westminster, speaks in the House of Commons as parliament discusses Brexit. Photograph: Reuters Tv/Reuters

Updated

Former cabinet minister Justine Greening, who had the Tory whip withdrawn, says the house is being given an “impossible choice”. She likens it to buying a house without going inside.

Greening – along with fellow Tory exiles Dominic Grieve and Guto Bebb – has previously made clear she wants a second referendum.

Updated

My colleague Mattha Busby is at the People’s Vote march.

Updated

Here is Oliver Letwin. He says the purpose of his amendment is to prevent Britain crashing out with no deal if legislation is not passed by 31 October.

He says he will vote for implementation of the deal.

Despite my support for the PM’s deal I do not believe its responsible to make that threat [of my deal or no deal].

His amendment will only be used to prevent a no-deal Brexit, he says.

Updated

There’s a lot of love for the shadow Brexit secretary, Keir Starmer, on Twitter.

Updated

Starmer says we could end up on WTO terms at the end of 2020 under this deal.

This is a trapdoor to no deal.

He reminds the house that “not a single trade union supports this deal”.

Labour MP Rushanara Ali says:

This is a Trojan deal for no deal Brexit.

Starmer agrees.

Labour MP Helen Hayes said there should be another vote to give a voice to the hundreds of thousands of young people marching for a people’s vote today.

The mayor of London has joined the marchers.

Starmer said Johnson’s argument that he is not putting a border in the Irish Sea is simply wrong.

On the reasons why the government wants to leave, Starmer says:

It’s obvious where the government is going. They want a licence to diverge. Once you move out of alignment you don’t go back. You break the economic model we’ve been operating for decades. Once you do that you look across to the US … and that’s a different economic model, a deregulated model.

He says 10 days is standard holiday in the US and corporate bodies have much more power than workers.

Updated

The Lib Dem MP Norman Lamb says he has agonised this week over whether to support the deal. He says we run the risk of “inflaming unionist opinion”.

Lamb, the only Lib Dem who potentially might have supported the deal, released a video earlier today saying he would not support it.

Updated

Meanwhile, outside parliament, the people’s vote march has begun.

Sir Patrick Stewart (front centre) and Paul McGann (front centre left) join protestors in an anti-Brexit, Let Us Be Heard march on Old Park Lane as they head to Parliament Square in London.
Sir Patrick Stewart (front centre) and Paul McGann (front centre left) join protestors in an anti-Brexit, Let Us Be Heard march on Old Park Lane as they head to Parliament Square in London. Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA

Addressing the crowd at the start, Young Greens co-chair Rosie Rawle said:

We have never seen our future snatched away like we are at the present moment. We’re inheriting a country ravaged by austerity and privatisation … We’re being dragged out of Europe against our will … And we’re forced to watch our planet spiral towards climate breakdown. But today, every single one of us are here to say ’We are not going to let this happen’. While bullies like Boris Johnson and layabouts like Jacob Rees-Mogg drive our future off a cliff, there are millions of young people getting politicised, organised and mobilised.

Updated

The shadow Brexit secretary, Keir Starmer, pleads:

Don’t take us out of the customs union.

He says that is just what this deal does, it “rips up” our close trading relationship with the EU and will result in job losses.

If the aspiration of the government is to have a trading relationship “as close as possible” to the existing one, why were those words taken out, asks Starmer.

Shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer
Shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer speaks in the Commons. Photograph: House of Commons/PA

Updated

Ed Vaizey, another one of the Tory MPs to have the whip withdrawn over attempts to block a no-deal Brexit, asked if the Letwin amendment did not pass and the deal was voted for but the bill did not pass by 31 October, whether that would lead to no deal?

Barclay did not give a straight answer.

The former attorney general, Dominic Grieve, another who had the whip, removed said the Letwin amendment was nothing more than “an insurance policy”.

Barclay said the purpose of the amendment was just delay, “to stop us getting Brexit done”. He says today is an opportunity for all those who want to avoid no deal.

Steve Barclay MP addresses MPs
Steve Barclay MP addresses MPs on Saturday. Photograph: Uk Parliamentary Recording Unit Handout/EPA

Updated

The shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, is unhappy about the channelling of the memory of Mo Mowlam by Stephen Barclay.

Updated

The Tory MP Mark Francois says no member of the ERG spoke against the deal at its meeting this morning.

If the deal is passed this morning we will faithfully vote the bill through to the end so that we leave the EU, says Francois, attempting to quash the suggestion that MPs might vote for the deal before trying to force through a no deal at a later date.

Updated

The Lib Dem MP Luciana Berger again asks how MPs can vote without any economic analysis.

To laughter, Barclay says no level of analysis would change her mind. He adds that the deal was only done on Thursday and says analysis would be contingent on what’s happening in the rest of the world.

Updated

Labour’s Caroline Flint describes the Letwin amendment as “a panic measure”. She says it also underlines that the sponsors of the Benn act had only the intention to delay Brexit and stop it.

Pretty clear that she intends to vote for the deal.

Updated

Gareth Snell is one of the Labour MPs the government is hoping will vote for the deal.

Significant backing for the deal:

Steve Barclay, the Brexit secretary, says:

We will set regulation that is world-leading.

He says the UK parliament went ahead of the EU in several areas including maternity rights and will continue to do.

Updated

Alistair Burt, one of 21 Conservatives who had the whip removed for backing legislation to stop a no-deal Brexit, says he will not support the Letwin amendment.

Updated

The debate on motions is beginning now.

Stephen Barclay is met by cries of “How dare you?” after he invokes the name of the late Northern Ireland secretary Mo Mowlam. The speaker intervenes, urging MPs to calm down. Barclay continues, saying he was referring to her ability to unify.

Barclay says he respects the intentions of Oliver Letwin.

But his amendment would render today’s vote meaningless.… The public would be appalled by pointless further delay.

He asks Letwin to withdraw it.

Speaker John Bercow calling the house to order.
Speaker John Bercow calling the house to order. Photograph: Jessica Taylor/UK Parliament/PA

Updated

Johnson says it cannot be right to delay beyond 31 October so it is his deal or no deal.

In response to a question about how he would appeal to remainers, he repeats that it is an opportunity for people who love Europe to move forward.

This is what BBC Newsnight’s political editor is saying about the impact of the Letwin amendment.

Former Labour whip Frank Field outside the Houses of Parliament in London.
Former Labour whip Frank Field outside the Houses of Parliament in London. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

The former Labour MP, Frank Field, says only one vote should be necessary today.

The PM says it would be a good thing if the house had what was promised, a meaningful vote tonight.

My fear is that the vote we have will not be meaningful.

And Sky News says:

Updated

The Conservative MP Nigel Evans asks the prime minister what message he would have for MPs representing leave constituencies.

I think you can guess the answer ....

Boris Johnson speaks during the Brexit deal debate inside the House of Commons on Saturday
Boris Johnson speaks during the Brexit deal debate inside the House of Commons on Saturday. Photograph: House of Commons/AP

Updated

The Tory MP Jeremy Wright says it is incumbent on all MPs to settle the debate and accept a “good deal” rather than delay in expectation of a “perfect deal”.

Johnson says it is as perfect a deal as you can get in the circumstances, while accepting “there are difficulties with it”.

Let’s knock it through if we possibly can tonight.

Updated

Labour’s Pat McFadden says PM is promising Tory MPs the deregulated future they dream off while promising opposition MPs a road to better workers’ rights, interests Johnson rubbished while a journalist. Both cannot be true, he insists.

Johnson says both are possible.

The Lib Dem MP Luciana Berger asks how MPs can vote on a deal today when the PM’s Brexit secretary, Stephen Barclay, was on TV this morning saying no economic assessment of the deal had been done.

Johnson responds by saying the deal has been welcomed by a broad range of people, including the governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney.

Updated

The Tory MP John Baron stands up and says he will back the deal because it abolishes the “anti-democratic backstop”. The abolition also makes a free trade deal more likely, says Baron.

Johnson - unsurprisingly - agrees.

Updated

Another former Tory, David Gauke, says Johnson has done well to agree a deal but asks whether he will ensure that a “deep and special relationship” is agreed with the EU before the implementation period comes to an end.

The PM says the 14-month period to reach a free trade deal with the EU is sufficient even though it is “a blistering pace”. He says detractors said he would never be able to reopen the withdrawal deal or get rid of the backstop (some would suggest he has not achieved the latter).

Updated

The Green party’s Caroline Lucas says the deal takes a “wrecking ball” to our social and environmental standards and that is why the PM will not put it to the British people.

Johnson says she has misread the deal, as parliament makes a commitment to uphold standards. He says he hopes standards will be even higher.

Updated

Justine Greening, another former Tory, asks if the PM recognises that dismissing concerns of other nations within the UK and communities within England is no way to bring Britain back together.

Johnson says he didn’t mean to dismiss anyone’s concerns. His strong belief is the way to move the country forward is to get the deal done.

He even insists getting Brexit done will give people the opportunity to stress their pro-European views.

Greg Clark, another former Tory who had the whip removed, asks if Johnson will give a commitment that workers’ rights in the UK will never be inferior to those in the EU.

The PM says: “Yes, I can.”

There is a lot of noise in response including someone shouting “Yeah, yeah, yeah”. Unclear whether it is a hearty endorsement of Johnson or sarcastic ...

Updated

Liz Saville Roberts, Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader, says the Welsh are an “afterthought” and he has refused to share impact assessments. She denounces the “billionaire’s Brexit”.

The PM responds by saying Wales voted to leave and she should respect that.

Updated

This was Philip Hammond, one of 21 MPs who lost the Tory whip, for backing legislation to stop a no-deal Brexit.

Updated

Labour’s Angela Eagle says Johnson has put a border down the Irish Sea after promising he would not do so. Why would anyone believe him again?

Johnson says she is “simply wrong”. We have delivered in defiance of the scepticism of the party opposite who said it was necessary to keep Northern Ireland in the customs union, says the PM.

The Labour MP, Hilary Benn, says the deal will ensure friction-free trade for Northern Ireland. Why is the PM so determined to deny that to the rest of the UK?

Johnson says Benn believes in a delay to Brexit, which the PM does not agree with. There are reasons for treating the NI border with sensItivity and respect, says the PM.

Updated

David Davis says the prime minister has achieved what was deemed “impossible” two weeks ago.

The DUP’s Westminster leader, Nigel Dodds, takes a different view. He says the deal is contrary to the deal made in 2017 that said regulatory difference could only be implemented with the agreement of the Northern Ireland assembly.

The PM says the arrangements with respect to Northern Ireland that have made the deal possible are temporary. He also criticises the idea that anyone should have a veto when the overall Brexit vote was won by 52% to 48%. He also insists the deal upholds the Good Friday agreement.

Northern Ireland’s DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds responding to Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s statement.
Northern Ireland’s DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds responding to Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s statement. Photograph: -/AFP via Getty Images

Updated

The PM says it will not remove workers’ rights and accuses Swinson of not allowing the British public a say on the deal by preventing a general election.

He also mocks what he says is the Lib Dems’ lack of influence in Brussels.

The Lib Dem leader, Jo Swinson, stands up and begins by saying the deal removes protections on workers’ rights.

The speaker, John Bercow, intervenes as she is jeered admonishing MPs for shouting her down.

She blasts the PM for not giving the British public a choice on his deal.

Updated

Iain Duncan Smith rises and says he will back the deal. He calls on Oliver Letwin to remove his amendment, in order to give the people “a meaningful vote”.

The PM responds by saying it would be a great shame if the opportunity to have a meaningful vote “were to be taken away from us”. He stresses that he thinks Letwin is motivated by the best of intentions.

Bizarrely, the PM begins his response to the SNP’s Westminster leader by congratulating the England rugby team on their World Cup quarter-final victory over Australia.

It’s a great deal for all four home nations, says Johnson. The Scots will enjoy the benefit of their “spectacular marine wealth”, says the PM.

Updated

Ian Blackford, the SNP leader at Westminster, says the PM and his cronies don’t care about Scotland.

This Tory government has sold Scotland out.

He says special arrangements have been made for Northern Ireland but not for Scotland, despite a majority of Scots voting to remain in the EU. The Scottish parliament and people have been treated with contempt, says Blackford.

Any and all assessments of any Brexit outcome show that Scotland and the whole of the UK will be poorer as a result of leaving the EU, he says.

Updated

The Old Etonian prime minister gets some jeers, responding to Clarke, as he refers to the European “elite”.

He, unsurprisingly paints an optimistic view of trade post-Brexit under his deal.

Norman Lamb, the only potential Lib Dem to vote for the deal, will not do so, he has said.

It is Ken Clarke now. He asks the PM if he would accept that for the last 50 years and all four PMs whose governments Clarke served in believed EU membership enhanced Britain’s place in the world and strengthened its economy.

Updated

Like a schoolteacher admonishing a pupil, Johnson says he is “disappointed by the tone” of Corbyn’s response.

Brexit gives us the opportunity to do things we have not had the opportunity to do and people want us to do, including protecting the environment and animals, says Johnson.

He quotes the Conservative peer Stuart Rose, who was chair of Britain Stronger in Europe, but said the deal would be good for the economy.

Corbyn does not trust his own party, says Johnson, immediately after saying it is not the time for adversarial politics.

He concludes by saying the deal will take the whole of Europe forward.

Updated

It is “nonsense” to say this is the only way of blocking no deal, says Corbyn. It would lead to a race to the bottom in regulations, insists the Labour leader.

He wants the PM to confirm that if a free trade agreement is not done, the UK will revert to trade under World Trade Organization rules.

Concluding, Corbyn dubs it a “sell-out” deal.

Updated

Moving on to workers’ rights, Corbyn warns “we cannot give the government a blank cheque”.

It would hammer the economy, cost jobs and sell workers down the river, says the Labour leader, quoting Frances O’Grady, the general secretary of the TUC. He was jeered as he mentioned her name. Corbyn responded by saying she represented 6 million voters.

Corbyn says he understands the fatigue and frustration in the house but we simply cannot vote for a deal worse than that which was voted down three times.

Updated

Corbyn says the PM is not being honest about the effect of this deal on manufacturing and jobs. He says a vote for the deal would be a vote to cut jobs all over the country and usher in a “Trump trade deal … exposing our families to chlorinated chicken”.

Johnson says his deal is “a great prospect and a great deal” and urges MPs to vote for it.

Now it’s Jeremy Corbyn’s turn. He begins by thanking parliamentary staff who have come in on their day off to facilitate this session.

But he says Johnson has negotiated a deal that is even worse than the original withdrawal agreement:

These benches will not be duped.

There is “very little appetite” among EU27 leaders for any further delay, Johnson says, even of “one single day”.

He urges MPs to “get Brexit done”.

He says even if he is compelled under the Benn Act to write a letter requesting an extension, he will never believe that delay is a good idea. It’s time to get this thing done, he says, “to end this debilitating feud”.

“Our National Health Service will not be on the table” in future trade talks, Johnson tells MPs. (The threat of a Trump-led US grab on NHS contracts is a concern for many.)

Updated

The Speaker, John Bercow, has announced that MPs will vote on Oliver Letwin and Hilary Benn’s amendment, in which the House of Commons would withhold support from Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal until the relevant legislation has been passed.

If it passes, it would force the prime minister to request an extension to Brexit by 11pm tonight, the deadline set in the Benn act.

Some MPs see it as extra insurance against a no-deal Brexit, in case MPs supported Johnson’s deal today – fulfilling the requirements of the Benn act – and then voted against the withdrawal bill. Without an extension in place, they feared the government could still take Britain out of the EU without a deal on 31 October.

Other backers of the Letwin amendment would like to support Johnson’s deal, but regard it as securing extra time to scrutinise it, and perhaps secure amendments.

Government sources are suggesting this morning that if Letwin passes – as appears highly likely – the whips will simply order Conservative MPs to go home, effectively boycotting the vote on the motion as amended. They are not making clear whether they will request an article 50 extension.

Updated

Johnson moves on to concerns around workers’ rights and protections. No one believes in lowering standards, he says, to loud heckles from opposing benches.

Animal welfare standards could be higher post-Brexit, he says.

Johnson now sets out the details of his new deal, struck with the EU this week. For those wondering how much it differs from Theresa May’s deal, here’s a handy visual guide:

And here’s a point-by-point breakdown of the key changes:

Updated

Johnson says his deal allows the UK “whole and entire” to leave the EU, but preserves the ties of friendship and cooperation.

He praises the EU for its flexibility in reopening the withdrawal agreement.

And he says he will listen to all MPs speaking in the Commons today.

Updated

Johnson says the UK has over the years been a “backmarker” in the EU, opting out of schemes such as the euro.

He says we have been “halfhearted Europeans”, but adds that this means “part of our hearts” are with Europe.

It is our continent. It is precisely because we are capable of thinking both things at once … that the whole experience of the last three and a half years has been so difficult for this country and so divisive.

Johnson says his deal “can heal the rift in British politics”:

Now is the time for this great House of Commons to come together and bring the country together today.

Bercow selects Letwin amendment

Bercow says he has selected the Letwin amendment for debate, and also Kyle-Wilson amendment to the second motion.

And now Boris Johnson is on his feet to present his deal to the Commons.

The Commons is sitting

Speaker John Bercow is welcoming MPs to this extraordinary Saturday session.

And here’s confirmation that the hardline Brexiters of the ERG have broken from the DUP – Steve Baker and Mark Francois say they and their colleagues will vote for Boris Johnson’s deal:

Tory MP Bernard Jenkin seems to be confirming that the ERG will vote for the deal, albeit not wholeheartedly:

The Sunday Times’ political editor, Tim Shipman, quotes an unnamed “No 10 source” saying the government will abandon the vote on the deal if the Letwin amendment – which would allow parliament to withhold its approval until the legislation to implement Brexit has passed – goes through today.

The BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg says that if that happens, MPs will be asked to vote on the deal on Monday instead:

Updated

potential votes

Rebecca Long Bailey, Labour’s shadow business secretary, described Boris Johnson’s deal as a “sellout”. She told the BBC:

It’s actually far worse than Theresa May’s deal, which was voted down repeatedly in the House of Commons. It’s a sellout, it sells out industry, it sells out our rights and protection, and it potentially sells off our NHS in future trade deals to Donald Trump – and that’s not something we can condone.”

She called on the government to provide stronger commitments on workers’ rights:

The protections that have been offered are simply, as I understand it … pretty similar to what Theresa May’s proposed, with the ability for parliament to review any changes in EU law when it comes to workers’ rights and environmental protections then vote on them that is … dependent on a Tory majority, who at the best of times would vote against any improvements in workers’ rights.

What we want to see is a legal lock … so we don’t fall behind improvements in workers’ rights and environmental standards, so if the government was serious about that then they would make more robust legal protections.”

While Long Bailey wouldn’t comment on Labour’s whipping arrangement for the Letwin amendment, she did say:

We don’t trust Boris Johnson at all and we need to protect as much as we possibly can, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we were supportive of this amendment.”

Updated

MPs present and past have been out and about on the airwaves this morning setting out their positions.

Former chancellor Philip Hammond – ejected by Boris Johnson after he voted for the Benn act – told the BBC he would vote for the Letwin amendment:

This cannot be the final vote today because we do not know the full shape of the package. The Letwin amendment gives us an insurance policy that prevents us having to look at this bill against the constant threat of the government to pull the plug and crash us out on 31 October.

We have to remove any risk of leaving on 31 October 31 with no deal.”

Tony Blair told BB Radio 4’s Today programme MPs should defeat the deal:

If this deal had been put before the British parliament a year ago, or two years ago, there is absolutely no way it would pass. The only reason the government can try and get it passed now is frankly … people are completely fed up with Brexit. They want it over. They want it done with.”

But the culture secretary, Nicky Morgan, tweeted that MPs should get onboard with the plan:

Updated

Sky News reports that Steve Baker, who chairs the hardline Brexiter ERG, has said the group will back the deal today:

The MPs to watch today

With the DUP definitely against the deal, and a number of the former Conservative MPs who lost the whip last month seemingly onboard, two groups will be vital.

First are the so-called “Spartans”, the most hardline of Tory Brexiters. Some of these have already come onboard, and others could follow – but with the DUP opposed, this is still a finely balanced decision.

The other group set to be endlessly pestered by Johnson’s team are Labour MPs from leave-voting areas who support a deal, such as Caroline Flint, Stephen Kinnock and others. They face intense Labour pressure to vote against it, but could still potentially be persuaded the vote the other way. These MPs might be more likely to back the deal if it is amended via the Letwin-Benn plan.

Key players

Steve Baker: the Tory hard Brexiters’ club, the European Research Group (ERG), is meeting first thing on Saturday. Whichever way Baker, its chair, chooses to vote will be a key indicator for the choice of other Spartans.

Philip Hammond: on the other side of the Tory divide, the former chancellor is prominent among the sizeable group of rebel MPs who lost the whip last month, and could go either way.

Caroline Flint: co-leader of the “MPs for a deal” grouping, Flint is a leading member of the Labour contingent that believes the UK should leave sooner rather than later. If she backs Johnson’s deal, she could take others with her.

Norman Lamb: while the rest of the Liberal Democrats are firmly against the deal, Lamb – who will step down at the next election – has long been much more Brexit-minded than his colleagues. He is believed to still be deciding, and while it will only be one vote, this could be crucial.

Updated

Super Saturday: timetable for the day

Welcome to our live coverage of the vote on Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal. The decision MPs make today could determine whether the UK leaves the EU, as Johnson has promised, on 31 October, or instead faces the prospect of requesting an extension from the European Union – and a possible general election.

Peter Walker has written a guide to see you through the day. Here are the key moments:

  • The Commons convenes at 9.30am with a statement from Boris Johnson on the Brexit deal he has negotiated with the EU, followed by questions.
  • The actual motion on the deal follows afterwards, to be opened by another minister. It is only when this debate begins that we will know which amendments have been selected for a vote by the Speaker, John Bercow.
  • The number of amendments will affect the length of the process, so the key vote could come any time from mid-afternoon to early evening.
  • Also on the order paper is the European Union (Withdrawal) (No 2) Act – better known as the Benn act. This is the backbench-created law that would compel Johnson to seek a Brexit extension if his deal is not passed.
  • The Lords is also sitting to consider the same two issues.

Updated

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