Johnson inches toward securing Brexit, but a delay remains likely

LONDON» For a brief moment Tuesday, Brexit was within a British prime minister’s grasp.

Boris Johnson won Parliament’s backing for the substance of his exit deal but lost a key vote on its timing, a result that inches him closer to his goal of leading his country out of the European Union — but effectively guarantees it won’t happen on the scheduled date of Oct. 31.

European Council President Donald Tusk tweeted that because of the vote he would recommend that the other 27 EU nations grant Britain a delay in its departure to avoid a chaotic nodeal exit in just nine days.

The good news for the prime minister was that lawmakers — for the first time since Britons chose in 2016 to leave the EU — voted in principle for a Brexit plan, backing by 329-299 a bill to implement the agreement Johnson struck with the EU last week.

But minutes later, legislators rejected his fast-track timetable to pass the bill, saying they needed more time to scrutinize it. The vote went 322-308 against the government.

Tuesday’s votes plunge the tortuous Brexit process back into grimly familiar territory: acrimonious uncertainty.

Without speedy passage of the bill, Britain won’t be able to make an orderly exit from the bloc on Oct. 31, the central vow of Johnson’s three-month-old administration.

Looking on the bright side, Johnson hailed the fact that “for the first time in this long saga, this House has actually accepted its responsibilities together, come together and embraced a deal.”

“One way or another we will leave the EU with this deal to which this House has just given its assent,” he added — although he also said the government would “accelerate” preparations for a no-deal outcome because of the uncertainty.

Johnson had hoped to push the legislation through the House of Commons by Thursday. But he said after the defeat that he would “pause” the bill until the EU had decided whether to agree to delay Britain’s departure.

On Tuesday night, Tusk tweeted that he would recommend that the bloc grant Britain’s request for an extension to the Oct. 31 deadline.