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Reuters

A defiant Boris Johnson said he would not negotiate a further delay to Britain’s departure from the European Union after parliament voted on Saturday to postpone a vote on his Brexit deal.
Parliament voted 322 to 306 in favour of an amendment put forward by Oliver Letwin, a former Conservative cabinet minister.
According to legislation passed earlier, the vote means Johnson is obliged to write to the European Union seeking a delay beyond Britain’s scheduled departure date of October 31.
But Johnson has repeatedly vowed he will not do this and on Saturday he stuck to that line.

“I will not negotiate a delay with the EU and neither does the law compel me to do so,” Johnson told parliament.
“I will tell our friends and colleagues in the EU exactly what I have told everyone else in the last 88 days that I have served as prime minister: that further delay would be bad for this country, bad for the European Union and bad for democracy.”
The vote however means the government will not hold a vote on its Brexit deal on Saturday as planned. Johnson said he would put it to a vote on Tuesday.
He said he still believes he can command “overwhelming” support for the new Brexit divorce plan and will introduce the required legislation to make that happen.
The leader of the opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, demanded that the government delay Brexit. “The prime minister must now comply with the law,” Corbyn said.

Letwin’s amendment proposed that a decision on whether to back a Brexit deal be deferred until all the legislation needed to implement it has been passed through parliament.
Even though Johnson believes this can be achieved by October 31, others think it would need a short ‘technical’ delay in Britain’s departure from the EU.
A law passed by Johnson’s opponents obliges him to ask the EU for a Brexit delay until January 31, 2020 if he could not secure approval for his deal by the end of Saturday.
Brexit in the balance as British lawmakers hold historic vote
“My aim is to ensure that Boris’s deal succeeds,” Letwin said earlier. But he wanted “an insurance policy which prevents the UK from crashing out on 31 October by mistake if something goes wrong during the passage of the implementing legislation”.
Three years after Britain voted 52-48 per cent to leave the European project, Johnson struck a divorce deal with the bloc in Brussels on Thursday.

Earlier, former prime minister Theresa May, whose Brexit deal was rejected by Parliament three times, said she was backing the agreement struck by Johnson.
May told lawmakers she had a “distinct sense of déjà vu” as parliament debated whether to back Johnson’s deal. She resigned in frustration after lawmakers repeatedly threw out her Brexit agreement.
Johnson’s deal is similar to May’s in some ways but contains a different arrangement for maintaining an open Irish border.
May said Parliament should pass the deal and let Britain leave the EU on October 31. She said “people want certainty in their lives … If you want this country to move forward then vote for the deal today”.

As lawmakers debated inside, tens of thousands of anti-Brexit demonstrators descended on London to march to Parliament Square, demanding a new referendum on whether Britain should leave the EU or remain. Protesters, many wearing blue berets emblazoned with yellow stars symbolising the EU flag, poured out of trains and buses for the last-ditch protest effort.
In one side street, a group of demonstrators with bells strapped to their legs and wielding sticks performed a traditional English morris dance and chanted: “Morris, not Boris!” to cheers from onlookers.
One of the dancers, Kate Fisher, said “demos that are fun and joyful are more effective”.
Elsewhere, the mood was less cheerful. Sarah Spoor, who cares for her two children with disabilities, choked back tears as she said she is “distraught” at the prospect of Britain leaving the EU.


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Brexit

British MPs vote to delay Brexit approval, in setback for Boris Johnson

Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the House of Commons in London on October 19. Photo: AFP

Britain's opposition Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks at the House of Commons as parliament discusses Brexit, sitting on a Saturday for the first time since the 1982 Falklands War, in London, Britain, October 19, 2019, in this screen grab taken from video. Parliament TV via REUTERS

A video grab from footage broadcast by the UK Parliament's Parliamentary Recording Unit (PRU) shows Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson making a statement in the House of Commons in London on October 19, 2019. - British MPs gather Saturday for a historic vote on Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit deal, a decision that could see the UK leave the EU this month or plunge the country into fresh uncertainty. (Photo by - / various sources / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT " AFP PHOTO / PRU " - NO USE FOR ENTERTAINMENT, SATIRICAL, MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS

A still image grabbed from footage recorded and broadcast by the UK Broadcast Pool shows thousands of people taking part in a People's Vote march calling for a final say in the form of a second Brexit referendum in central London on October 19, 2019. - Tens of thousands of pro-EU protesters from across Britain wielding banners, placards and flags converged on parliament on Saturday, as MPs debated the government's Brexit deal. (Photo by - / UK BROADCASTERS POOL / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / UK BROADCAST POOL " - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - NO SALES - RESTRICTED TO SUBSCRIPTION USE - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Anti-Brexit remain in the European Union supporters gather after taking part in a "People's Vote" protest march calling for another referendum on Britain's EU membership, in Parliament Square in London, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2019. Britain's Parliament is set to vote in a rare Saturday sitting on Prime Minister Boris Johnson's new deal with the European Union, a decisive moment in the prolonged bid to end the Brexit stalemate. Various scenarios may be put in motion by the vote. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Brexit in the balance as British lawmakers hold historic vote

An EU flag is seen outside the Houses of Parliament in London. Photo: Xinhua

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker speaks during a media conference at an EU summit in Brussels, Friday, Oct. 18, 2019. After agreeing on terms for a new Brexit deal, European Union leaders are meeting again to discuss other thorny issues including the bloc's budget and climate change. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

First morning light strikes the Houses of Parliament in London, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2019. Britain's Parliament is set to vote in a rare Saturday sitting on Prime Minister Boris Johnson's new deal with the European Union, a decisive moment in the prolonged bid to end the Brexit stalemate. Various scenarios may be put in motion by the vote. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Britain's Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay is seen outside the Cabinet Office in London, Britain October 18, 2019. REUTERS/Tom Nicholson NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks at the House of Commons as parliament discusses Brexit, sitting on a Saturday for the first time since the 1982 Falklands War, in London, Britain, October 19, 2019, in this screen grab taken from video. Parliament TV via REUTERS

(FILES) In this file photo taken on September 10, 2019 Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Arlene Foster (R) and deputy Nigel Dodds leave from 10 Downing Street in central London on September 10, 2019, where they met with Britain's Prime Minister. - Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party announced on October 17 it cannot support Boris Johnson's current Brexit plan, dealing a major blow to the British prime minister just hours before a crunch EU summit. (Photo by Tolga AKMEN / AFP)

British prime minister Boris Johnson. Photo: Bloomberg

Speaker John Bercow vows to stop Boris Johnson breaking the law on Brexit

Britain's Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, speaks at the Sixth Annual Bingham Lecture at Middle Temple on Thursday. Photo: PA Wire via dpa

(190910) -- LONDON, Sept. 10, 2019 (Xinhua) -- John Bercow, speaker of the House of Commons, announces his intention to step down in London, Britain, on Sept. 9, 2019. British lawmakers on Monday night voted to reject Prime Minister Boris Johnson's second bid for a snap general election, dealing another heavy blow to his Brexit strategy. (Jessica Taylor/UK Parliament/Handout via Xinhua) HOC MANDATORY CREDIT: UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson takes part in an activity with school children as he visits the NLV Pharos, a lighthouse tender moored on the river Thames, to mark London International Shipping Week in London, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2019. The British government insisted Thursday that its forecast of food and medicine shortages, gridlock at ports and riots in the streets after a no-deal Brexit is an avoidable worst-case scenario, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson denied misleading Queen Elizabeth II about his reasons for suspending Parliament just weeks before the country is due to leave the European Union. (Daniel Leal-Olivas/Pool photo via AP)

epa07837083 Pro EU Remain campaigners protest outside Parliament in central London, Britain, 12 September 2019. Reports state that some Members of Parliament (MP's) are calling for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to resign if he is found to have misled the Queen over the proroguing of Parliament. Meanwhile three judges in Edinburgh have found the suspension of Parliament unlawful but the courts in England and Northern Ireland have ruled the opposite. EPA-EFE/ANDY RAIN

How Brexit has already cost London’s financial hub billions

A harvest moon is seen rising behind London’s skyscrapers on September 14. Photo: Reuters

FILE PHOTO: Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron (R) and London Mayor Boris Johnson sit on an underground train as they head to Westminster after local election campaigning in Harrow, London May 12, 2014. REUTERS/Stefan Rousseau/Pool/File Photo

Interview with City of London Deputy Chairman, Policy & Resources Committee, Chairman, Education Board Catherine McGuinness at Conrad Hotel in Admiralty. 26APR17 SCMP / David Wong

CME Group. SCMP Pictures (UNDATED HANDOUT)

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World

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British MPs will withhold support for Brexit until formal ratification legislation has passed
Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he will not negotiate a Brexit delay with the European Union, and hopes for a new vote on Tuesday



British MPs will withhold support for Brexit until formal ratification legislation has passed, but Boris Johnson says he will not negotiate a Brexit delay with the EU.


Britain

Boris Johnson