UK lawmakers vote for Letwin proposals, forcing Johnson toward Brexit delay

LONDON: British lawmakers on Saturday voted for a proposal to withhold support for Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal until formal ratification legislation has passed, a step that will oblige him to ask the European Union for a Brexit delay.

Lawmakers voted 322-306 for the amendment, put forward by former Conservative lawmaker Oliver Letwin. It means that parliament will not vote on Saturday on whether to approve Johnson’s agreement.

Unless Johnson has approved a deal by the end of Saturday, he is obliged by law to ask the EU for a Brexit delay until the end of January 2020. If Johnson can get all the legislation through parliament, he could still deliver Brexit by Oct. 31.

The House of Commons held its first Saturday sitting since the 1982 Falklands War to debate the terms of a divorce agreement Johnson struck with European Union leaders Thursday.

Opposition parties and Johnson's own Northern Irish allies have rejected the text but the prime minister and his team have spent the past 48 hours frantically trying to win MPs' support.

"There is no better outcome than the one I'm advocating," he told the BBC on Friday evening, calling it a "fantastic deal for all of the UK".

Securing a deal was a personal victory for Johnson, a "Vote Leave" leader in the referendum campaign who has vowed to deliver Brexit on October 31 in all circumstances.

Parliamentary arithmetic 

Johnson took office in July after his predecessor Theresa May failed to get her own divorce deal through parliament.

He insists that Brexit must happen this month to end to uncertainty that has weighed on the economy and dominated political and public debate.

But his political situation is more fragile than May's, after he expelled 21 of his own Conservative MPs who refused to accept his threat to leave the EU with no deal.

Businesses and markets on both sides of the Channel fear a disorderly exit, and EU leaders have twice delayed Brexit already to avoid such an outcome.

Some of the Tory rebels are supporting an amendment on Saturday asking MPs to back the deal only on condition that it is ratified before Britain leaves the EU.

Johnson could also face opposition from eurosceptics who fear his deal will not fulfil their dreams of abolishing decades of EU rules and regulations from British life.

Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party, which props up Johnson's minority government, will vote against it because of its arrangements for the British province.

The main opposition Labour party meanwhile warns the deal could lead to only a loose trading relationship with the EU after Brexit, which could damage the economy and lower environmental and labour standards.