YOU BIG HALLOWEAN
Petulant PM pauses Brexit after MPs back bill but reject his Oct 31 timetable
BORIS Johnson threw a tantrum as he faced a Halloween nightmare after MPs opted not to rush his Brexit Bill through Parliament by October 31.
The PM said he was pausing the legislation needed to take the UK out of the European Union but remained defiant he would meet his deadline.
BORIS Johnson spat the dummy last night after his plans to take the UK out of the European Union by Halloween were left in tatters.
The Prime Minister won a 30-strong majority in the Commons for the principles of his Brexit deal but suffered another defeat that saw him lose control of the timetable to pass the legislation.
After the setback, Johnson declared a “pause” in the legislation to take account of the result.
MPs voted by 322 to 308 to
reject the Tory plan to bulldoze legislation approving Johnson’s Brexit deal through the Commons in just three days.
But he remained childishly defiant that the country would leave the EU on his self-imposed Halloween deadline.
He told MPs: “I will speak to EU member states about their intentions. Until they have reached a decision, we will pause this legislation.”
He added: “Let me be clear. Our policy remains that we should not delay, that we should leave the EU on October 31 and that is what I will say to the EU and I will report back to the House.
“And one way or another we will leave the EU with this deal, to which this House has just given its assent.”
And last night, Johnson was left facing his nightmare scenario of a delay when European Council president Donald Tusk tweeted: “Following PM @BorisJohnson’s decision to pause the process of ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement, and in order to avoid a no-deal #Brexit, I will recommend the EU27 accept the UK request for an extension. For this, I will propose a written procedure.”
Speaker John Bercow declared the Bill was now “in limbo” but Johnson declared himself “joyful” that the Commons had for the first time backed a Brexit deal in principle, something which Theresa May had failed three times to achieve.
Some 19 Labour MPs from Leave-supporting constituencies and 25 independents, many of them former Tories, back the second reading of the Bill. Yet it was a bittersweet victory and Johnson came under immediate pressure from the SNP and the Lib Dems to secure a Brexit extension from the EU as he is obliged to under the Benn Act to avoid a no-deal Brexit on October 31.
The SNP’s Ian Blackford said it was “another humiliating defeat” for the PM and that the Commons had “spoken with a very clear voice to tell the PM he is not on”.
Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson called on Johnson to “end the brinkmanship and replace it with some statesmanship” in
The Prime Minister is the author of his own misfortune
JEREMY CORBYN ON JOHNSON LOSING VOTE
order to secure an extension with the EU.
But Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn struck a more conciliatory tone.
He said: “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 amend 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.” Irish taoiseach Leo Varadkar welcomed that the Commons voted by a majority in favour of legislation needed to enact the withdrawal agreement as progress.
He added: “We will now await further developments from London and Brussels about next steps including timetable for the legislation and the need for an extension.”
During a Commons debate on the Bill, Labour MPs Lisa Nandy and Gloria De Piero were among those who signalled their backing of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill at second reading so it can reach committee stage and undergo detailed scrutiny.
Labour MPs were immediately labelled the “handmaidens of Brexit” by the SNP.
But the defeat on second vote, the Programme Motion or timetable of the Commons, came as hot revenge for the Northern Irish DUP MPs
They are are furious about the province being left having to abide by EU Custom Union rules that create a border with the UK mainland.
The DUP Westminster leader Nigel Dodds told the Prime Minister: “It is quite clear that whatever you say about Northern Ireland being in the UK customs union, de facto the European Union customs code applies in Northern Ireland if the protocol comes into place, which requires exit declarations from Northern Ireland.” Earlier, Johnson threatened he would pull the whole Bill and go for a general election if they rejected his timetable and decided on a delay.
He told the Commons: “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. And with great regret, the Bill will have to be pulled and we will have to go forward to a general election.”