Boris Johnson news - live: Brexit bill ‘paused’ after MPs vote for it but kill off plan for Halloween exit
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MPs have voted in favour of a Brexit withdrawal bill for the first time – but killed off Boris Johnson’s proposal to ram it through Parliament, thereby derailing his plan to leave by Halloween.
The Commons voted by 329 votes to 299 – a majority of 30 – to approve the prime minister’s Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB) in principle, six months after killing off Theresa May’s equivalent version.
However, the PM then lost a vote on his proposed timetable, which stipulated the bill would have to clear all its Commons stages by the end of Thursday in order to fulful his "do or die" pledge to exit the EU at the end of the month, by a margin of 322 to 308.
Mr Johnson then announced the legislation would be "paused", meaning that the EU will now have to grant an extension to Brexit in order to avoid the UK crashing out with no deal in nine days' time.
What happens if MPs vote for a customs union?
As well as an amendment on a second referendum, Labour is expected to put forward an amendment on a customs union with the EU.
Our correspondent Benjamin Kentish has taken a look at the consequences of the potentially crucial amendment to Boris Johnson’s withdrawal bill.
Chuka Umunna wants to know if government gathering intelligence on MPs
Boris Johnson has been urged to disclose whether his government has okayed any surveillance or intelligence-gathering on opposition MPs.
In his regular column for The Independent, Chuka Umunna, the Liberal Democrats’ foreign affairs spokesman, said he had written to the PM demanding clarity over whether any investigation exits or “whether this is an over-briefing from Dominic Cummings and friends”.
Scottish government recommends withholding ‘consent’ on Brexit deal
The Scottish government has recommended consent from Holyrood for the new Brexit deal should be withheld.
Under the devolution settlement, something called a legislative consent motion (LCM), also known as a Sewel motion, must be lodged in the devolved parliaments when the UK government is looking to pass a law on a matter for which Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland has power.
An LCM has now been lodged in the Scottish Parliament by the Holyrood administration’s Brexit secretary, the SNP’s Mike Russell.
An LCM is a political convention that does not provide the devolved administrations with the legal ability to veto decision made at Westminster.
Russell has described the attempts of the UK government to pass its new Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB) as “irresponsible and disrespectful” to the devolved administrations.
The Scottish Government has also requested the Scottish Parliament be recalled on Thursday to allow for a decision on the LCM, should the House of Commons push for passage of the WAB by 31 October.
The decision to recall parliament can only be made by the presiding officer at Holyrood, Ken Macintosh, who it is understood is monitoring proceedings at Westminster before reaching a decision to call MSPs back this week.
German MEP makes passionate plea to ‘put it back to the people’
German MEP Terry Reintke, party of the the Greens–European Free Alliance, has made a passionate plea for a Final Say public vote on the Brexit deal so the British people can decide.
“The EU is not tired of the British people … But what we are tired of is prime ministers that are giving promises that they cannot live up to. We are tired of prime ministers that are using divisive language.
“What we are tied of is prime ministers who do not understand they are not going to get this deal through the Commons – they will have to put it back to the people so that the British people can decide on this finally.”
Who is set to vote against government timetable?
SNP MP Stephen Gethins has just said he and his fellow Scottish nationalists at Westminster will vote against the “programme motion” – the three-day timetable set out by Jacob Rees-Mogg to get the withdrawal agreement bill through the Commons.
There was a suggestion Labour could abstain from the second reading bill, but The Times’ political editor Frances Elliott said Labour will vote against both the second reading and the programme motion early this evening.
Laura Kuenssberg suggests up to 30 rebel Labour MPs could back Boris Johnson’s deal at the second reading. But which way do those rebels go for the programme motion? The Telegraph’s Gordon Rayner says the DUP have not decided which way they’re going tonight.
Cross-party group tables customs union amendment
We now have the amendment for a customs union with the EU that a group of cross-party MPs want to attach top Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal. It has Ken Clarke’s name on it, and it’s backed by Labour backbenchers and frontbencher Jack Dromey.
Mark Francois calls pro-EU Brexit protester an ‘idiot’ who is ‘going to have to get proper job’
Tory MP and staunch Brexiteer Mark Francois has been heckled again by a man shouting “STOP BREXIT” while trying to speaking on the BBC.
“One of the great pleasures when we leave the European Union is this idiot behind me is going to have to get a proper job,” said the ERG member.
“If parliament approves this bill, in nine days’ time we leave the European Union,” he managed to add.
“The emperor has no clothes – it’s now nakedly obvious that half of the House of Commons will never vote for us to leave the EU under any circumstances.”
Cross-party MPs are demanding Boris Johnson improves protections for EU citizens after Brexit by removing the arbitrary deadline for settled status applications, writes political correspondent Ashley Cowburn.
Brandon Lewis, the security minister, provoked alarm earlier this month after he appeared to suggest thousands risked being deported if they failed to apply for permanent residence by the government's deadline.
Under current rules, EU citizens must apply to the settled status scheme before 30 June 2021 – shortly after the Brexit transition period concludes – or 31 December 2020 if there is a no-deal outcome.
The latest government figures shows that more than two million EU nationals and their family members have asked to remain in the UK after Brexit since the scheme opened in April.
The amendment to the EU Withdrawal Agreement Bill – known as the "WAB" – has been tabled by the Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson, and signed by the party's Brexit spokesman, and the SNP's Stuart McDonald.
It states: "Regulations made under this section may not prevent EEA and Swiss nations, or their family members, who are resident in the United Kingdom on or prior to 31 December 2020 applying for settled status at any time.
"The amendment forms one of dozens expected to be tabled in the coming hours to the government's WAB – a 110-page bill that No 10 is attempting to force through the House of Commons in just three days.
The BBC's Laura Kuennsberg reckons that up to 30 Labour MPs could rebel against the party line in order to support the Withdrawal Agreement Bill at its second reading later today. In reality the number could be around half that. Some MPs want the bill to progress to committee stage so that a series of amendments can be voted on. Voting for the second reading does not necessarily mean they will support the bill during its later stages, if it goes through unamended.
Boris Johnson is now speaking in the Commons, moving the motion for the Withdrawal Agreement Bill's second reading.
The prime minister says he "respects perfectly" Sir Oliver Letwin's motives for tabling the amendment that led to a "meaningful vote" on his Brexit deal being delayed.
He tells MPs:
"If this House backs this legislation, if we ratify this new deal...we can get Brexit done and move out the country on, and we can de-escalate no-deal preparations and turn them off next week."
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