British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday faced another setback as majority of MPs voted in favour of delaying his Brexit plan until the deal struck by him with the European Union had become law. Today’s voting means that Johnson would not be able to implement his plan to leave the EU by 31 October. 322 MPs voted in favour of the delay while only 306 lawmakers opposed the move.
The defeat today left Johnson red-faced but he remained determined to not contact the EU for the Brexit delay saying that he was not bound by law to do so. To which Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn warned him to exercise caution his words could come to haunt him. He said that johnson was ‘prepared to defy a law passed by this parliament’ and urged him to ‘think very carefully’ about his refusal to seek an extension to the Article 50 negotiating period.
Welcoming the outcome of today’s vote, Corbyn said that it was an ’emphatic decision’ to not back Johnson’s deal and MPs have ‘clearly voted’ to avoid no-deal. “The PM must now comply with the law..We believe that ultimately people must have the final say on Brexit,” Corbyn said.
Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swindon asked Speaker John Bercow if he could suspend the parliament’s sitting so that Johnson could go out and write to the EU requestion for an extension. To which, Bercow said, “It is not my intention to suspend the sitting.”
Reacting to the development ion the British parliament, EU’s Chief Spokeswoman Mina Andreeva wrote on Twitter, “@EU_Commission
takes note of the vote in the House of Commons today on the so-called #Letwin Amendment meaning that the #WithdrawalAgreement 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.”
???? @EU_Commission takes note of the vote in the House of Commons today on the so-called #Letwin Amendment meaning that the #WithdrawalAgreement 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.
— Mina Andreeva (@Mina_Andreeva) October 19, 2019
Johnson last week announced that his country had struck a new Brexit deal with the European Union.
