PM suffers fresh setback on Brexit

BORIS Johnson has been forced to put his plans to leave the EU on October 31 on ice after another humiliating Commons defeat.

MPs voted by 322 to 308 to reject his plan to ram legislation approving his Brexit deal through the Commons in just three days.

The PM told MPs he would now “pause” the Withdrawal Agreement Bill until the EU decides on whether to grant another Brexit delay.

But the vote appear to have put paid to his hope of leaving with a deal at the end of the month.

Just minutes earlier MPs voted to back the deal in principle by 329 to 299 on the second reading of the Bill – the first time the Commons has supported any Brexit deal.

Mr Johnson, who had pledged to take Britain out of the EU by Halloween “do or die”, told the House he would now consult with other EU leaders on what happens next.

Under the so-celled Benn Act he was forced to write to the EU at the weekend seeking an extension after failing to win Commons support at Saturday’s special sitting.

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: “Our policy remains that we should not delay, that we should leave the EU on October 31. 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.”

Jacob Rees-Mogg has said it is “very hard to see how it is possible” for the Withdrawal Agreement Bill to pass through the Commons and the Lords before the October 31 deadline.

Asked by Tory MP and ardent Brexiter Peter Bone if the tight timetable made it “impossible” to get the bill through the House by October 31 and if it was “effectively dead for approval” Mr Rees-Mogg said: “Impossible is a very strong word, but it is very hard to see how it is possible.”

MPs rejected Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s timetable for pushing through his Withdrawal Agreement Bill