UK lawmakers to vote on whether to delay Brexit decision

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's plan to get Parliament to approve his divorce deal with the European Union was thrown into doubt Saturday, as lawmakers were first given a vote on whether yet again to delay their final decision on Brexit.

At a rare weekend sitting of Parliament, Johnson implored legislators to ratify the deal he struck this week with the other 27 EU leaders. He said members of the House of Commons should "come together as democrats to end this debilitating feud" that has wracked the country for more than three years.

"Now is the time for this great House of Commons to come together... as I believe people at home are hoping and expecting," Johnson told lawmakers.

But he may not get the vote he craves. House of Commons Speaker John Bercow said he would first allow a vote on an amendment that essentially puts the vote on the deal off until another day. Those behind the amendment say it will remove the risk that the U.K. could stumble out of the bloc without a deal on Oct. 31 because the law is not in place.

If the amendment passes, it also will force Johnson to seek a delay from the EU to Britain's departure, due to take place in less than two weeks on Oct 31.

The prime minister signaled that he would do that under duress. He is compelled by law to ask for the extension, but he said "it cannot change my judgment that further delay is pointless, expensive and deeply corrosive of public trust."
One of the lawmakers behind the measure, Oliver Letwin, said it would prevent the U.K. from leaving at the end of the month "by mistake if something goes wrong during the passage of the implementing legislation."
"We will not be supporting the government, we will be voting against," said the party's deputy leader, Nigel Dodds. "Because it isn't Brexit for the whole of the United Kingdom."