In a critical vote last night, the members of the United Kingdom’s parliament voted in favor of a new bill that would allow them to seize control of the Brexit negotiations and prevent Prime Minister Boris Johnson from pushing the country towards a no-deal break from the EU.
After a long day in Parliament, in the evening MPs held a vote on whether to take control of the agenda. It passed with a clear majority, some of it due to conservatives from Boris Johnson’s own party leaving and joining the opposition ranks instead, as they disagree with a no-deal Brexit.
MPs’ success last night means that today they will likely put forward another bill, one that asks for a delay to Brexit until at least the end of January 2020. Next on the agenda is the call for an early general election, which Johnson said he is prepared to schedule for October 15.
Nevertheless, opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn said before his party supports another election, they want a bill that ensures no-deal is off the table. The Prime Minister has criticized this move, suggesting it would tie his hands in negotiations with the EU, as he would effectively have no leverage.
Defenders of the Prime Minister stated that the current chaos caused by MPs is harming the otherwise productive negotiations with the EU. However, representatives from the EU stated that there has been no progress, with 2 weeks already up from the 4-week deadline Angela Merkel gave Boris Johnson to come up with an alternative to the Irish backstop.
