Brexit vote result – live: Boris Johnson suffers second humiliating defeat as MPs vote to block no deal but put May’s deal back on table on technicality
Follow updates from Westminster as they happened
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Boris Johnson‘s plan to call an early general election was rejected after his earlier bid to keep a no-deal Brexit on the table suffered a major blow.
The prime minister had called for a poll to be held on 15 October after legislation designed to prevent the UK crashing out of the EU on 31 October cleared the Commons on Tuesday.
But Labour and other opposition MPs refused to back the motion for a snap election, which needed a two-thirds majority in the Commons, while the risk of a no-deal exit remained.
The government failed to secure the support of two-thirds of MPs, with the Commons voting 298 to 56 – 136 short of the number needed.
Mr Johnson urged MPs to reflect on what he thinks is the “unsustainability of this position overnight and in the course of the next few days”.
See below for live updates
Dominic Cummings is facing a growing backlash from all sides after Boris Johnson suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of rebel Conservatives, writes Zamira Rahim.
Some Downing Street officials have reportedly blamed the prime minister’s senior adviser for a calamitous night, which saw 21 MPs expelled from the Tory party.
“He despises politicians, presumably despises the process of democratic politics, only sees it as a vehicle to use,” Alistair Burt, one of the rebels, said of the adviser.
Jeremy Wright QC, a Conservative, has been speaking in opposition to the bill.
He says: "It is certainly true that the leave campaign in 2016 did not advocate for no deal, it wasn't their preference, and as I understand it, it isn't the government's preference still.
"But neither was it put to the electorate that we would only leave if there was a deal with the EU, and that could never have been guaranteed.
"Some of us, Mr Speaker, who argued for remain in that referendum campaign, said that if you decide to leave you take a leap in the dark.
"The electorate, as it was their absolute right to do, listened to those arguments, rejected them and decided to leave anyway."
When triggering Article 50, MPs should have known that no-deal Brexit was a possibility, he adds.
He concludes: "I cannot agree that we do not have a mandate for no deal and therefore we must proceed as the right honourable gentleman has set out".
Sir Nicholas Soames, who, as we know from his loss of the Tory whip last night, supports the bill, began his contribution to the debate with a swipe at Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg.
He said: "I want to make clear that I have always believed that the referendum result must be honoured, and indeed I've voted for the withdrawal agreement on every occasion it has been presented to the house, which is more than can be said for my right honourable friend the prime minister, the leader of house and other members of the cabinet, whose serial disloyalty has been such an inspiration to so many of us."
Burn.
Sir Nicholas adds: "I think history will, in due course, favour the view articulated so clearly last night by my right honourable friend the member for West Dorset [Sir Oliver Letwin] that a threat to commit an act of self-harm if your counterparts in a negotiation do not do exactly as you wish is not exactly likely to be an effective or successful negotiation strategy."
ELECTION UPDATE
The PM's official spokesman told a Westminster briefing that Boris Johnson will bring forward a motion to call an early general election in the Commons tonight, if the rebel Brexit bill is approved.
The spokesman added: "The prime minister, while not wanting an election, believes that if his negotiating position has been destroyed then that should be tested at an election and the public should be able to decide on the next steps forward."
It's probably time to re-post this, from Sean O'Grady:
Remain-supporting British MEPs have formed a new cross-party alliance and pledged to work together in the face of Brexit and Boris Johnson's suspension of parliament, writes Jon Stone.
The pact, named the Brussels Declaration, unites the EU delegations of Labour, Greens, Liberal Democrats, Alliance, Plaid Cymru, and the SNP - with the aim of "keeping the door open" to EU membership.
The declaration puts down in writing the informal alliance that has formed among pro-EU British MEPs since the referendum - where cross-party working has been the norm in efforts to oppose the British government.
Downing Street has insisted that Boris Johnson will not stand down as prime minister in order to avoid having to ask Brussels for an extension of Brexit negotiations, writes Andrew Woodcock.
If the rebel bill being debated by MPs on Wednesday becomes law, it will require the PM to seek a delay in the Brexit deadline from 31 October to the end of January, unless he can first strike a deal with Brussels or persuade parliament to accept a no-deal outcome.
This would mean Mr Johnson breaching his often-repeated promise that the UK will leave the EU under his leadership “come what may”.
This is an electioneering budget. So money is scattered around – to garner votes for the new Brexit party from a range of constituencies: veterans, teachers, policemen, to name but a few, writes Ann Pettifor.
But in a welcome deviation from Osborne’s decade-long austerity, Sajid Javid offers the promise of a new “fiscal framework” and more investment on infrastructure. The latter must be welcomed. UK business investment as a 17 per cent share of GDP has for too long lagged behind the OECD average of 22 per cent – and explains the absence of a full recovery 12 years after the Great Financial Crisis.
But there is also denial. The “decade of recovery” line after nearly 10 years of austerity was misleading. If this is “recovery” then why has Britain lagged behind her OECD partners, and why in the second quarter of this year did the economy shrink by 0.2 per cent – the worst quarter since 2012?
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) believes there is a 25 per cent chance Britain is already in “technical recession”.
MPs have voted by 329 to 300 for the anti-no-deal bill - meaning another person has gone against the government after last night.
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