Tuesday

19th Mar 2024

Johnson defeated as MPs push anti no-deal Brexit bill

  • Johnson will still push for early elections after the no-deal bill passes both houses of parliament (Photo: Number 10)

British prime minister Boris Johnson suffered defeats on Wednesday (4 September) in the UK parliament as MPs blocked his first bid to trigger a snap election for October and legislators managed to clear the way for a bill blocking any no-deal Brexit.

On Thursday early morning, the government agreed that the bill to stop no-deal Brexit could complete its passage through the House of Lords on Friday after it has already been mostly cleared by the House of Commons, which could have a final vote on it on Monday.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

The parliament then will be suspended later next week until mid-October.

The breakthrough on the bill came after Conservative rebels held talks with opposition Labour.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn earlier said his party required the no-deal Brexit bill to gain royal assent, pass through all the legislative stages before it would consider backing Johnson's call for a general election.

During a dramatic day in the British parliament, Johnson then failed to get the necessary two-thirds of the MPs to support a snap general election.

It prompted Johnson to call Corbyn "the first leader of the opposition in the democratic history of our country to refuse the invitation to an election".

During a bad-tempered debate in the parliament, Johnson was caught yelling at the opposition leader: "Call an election, you great big girl's blouse" to the Labour leader.

Corbyn in response told MPs that Labour wants an election, but that Johnson's proposal for a 15 October poll was "a bit like the offer of an apple to Snow White by the wicked queen".

The no-deal Brexit bill, supported by 21 rebel Conservatives and opposition MPs, states that Johnson has until 19 October to either pass a divorce agreement in parliament or get MPs to approve a no-deal Brexit.

Once this deadline has passed, the prime minister will have to request an extension from the EU to the UK's departure date to 31 January 2020.

If the EU proposes a different date, the premier will have two days to accept that proposal. During that period, MPs will have the opportunity to reject that date.

The EU-27 leaders, who will next meet in Brussels on 17 October, want to avoid being blamed for a no-deal Brexit, and will be expected to grant another extension to the deadline, but with conditions.

The EU-27 will have to decide unanimously.

Johnson promised to take the UK out of the EU by the end of October "no ifs, not buts", and refused earlier calls for requesting an extension, arguing it will weaken the UK's negotiating position in Brussels.

However, UK negotiator David Frost has failed to put substantive proposals on the table during his meeting with EU officials on Wednesday to amend the withdrawal agreement.

Meanwhile, there is a growing backlash in Johnson's Conservative party as the 21 rebel MPs, including former chancellor Philip Hammond and Winston Churchill's grandson Nicholas Soames, were expelled from the party for supporting the no-deal Brexit bill.

Opinion

Brexit snap election might plumb further chaos

Tuesday will go down as one of the most dramatic days in British parliamentary history. After just weeks in power, Boris Johnson now wants a snap Brexit election - but will the Labour opposition let him?

Yellowhammer: UK report predicts Brexit chaos

A British government report, called Operation Yellowhammer, warns of public disorder, disease outbreaks, and price rises for food and fuel in case of a no-deal Brexit.

UK: light goes out in House of Commons

British MPs again rejected Boris Johnson's call for an early election, as the parliament began its five-week suspension period. The prime minister said he would refuse to ask for a Brexit delay - despite the law demanding it.

Opinion

Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers

The UN could launch an independent international investigation into Navalny's killing, akin to investigation I conducted on Jamal Khashoggi's assassination, or on Navalny's Novichok poisoning, in my role as special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, writes the secretary-general of Amnesty International.

Latest News

  1. Borrell: 'Israel provoking famine', urges more aid access
  2. Europol: Israel-Gaza galvanising Jihadist recruitment in Europe
  3. EU to agree Israeli-settler blacklist, Borrell says
  4. EU ministers keen to use Russian profits for Ukraine ammo
  5. Call to change EIB defence spending rules hits scepticism
  6. Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers
  7. EU summit, Gaza, Ukraine, reforms in focus this WEEK
  8. The present and future dystopia of political micro-targeting ads

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us