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4 Sep, 2019 14:06

UK MPs reject snap election after approving bill to block ‘no-deal’ Brexit

UK MPs reject snap election after approving bill to block ‘no-deal’ Brexit

UK MPs have passed a bill tabled by Labour backbencher Hilary Benn. It rules out a no-deal Brexit, forcing PM Boris Johnson to seek a new extension from the EU. RT brings you live commentary featuring journalist Neil Clark.

Also on rt.com Rebel MPs seal defeat for BoJo’s govt to officially block a ‘no-deal’ Brexit

Note: All times are GMT

  • 04 September 2019

    21:10 GMT

    Negotiations will now be going on behind the scenes at Westminster, former MP George Galloway tells RT, and "it may be that the general election, while delayed, will not be entirely delayed for long.”

    "Once the 31st of October is passed, Labour has no excuse at all for refusing a general election, so it may be that a deal will be reached for an election on the first available Thursday in November,” he said, adding that November is a "very bad month to have a general election."

    "The weather is poor, the nights are dark and it's only in extreme cases of parliamentary emergency that Britain traditionally goes to the polls in November, December, January, even February."

  • 20:49 GMT

    Neil Clark: “There are those who will way say Labour’s move is a shrewd strategy. But having called repeatedly for an election for the last two years it doesn’t look good that when they finally get the chance of one they turn it down.”

    Labour’s decision to prioritize stopping a ‘no-deal’ over trying to get into power as soon as possible “will cost them dearly when an election does come,” Clark says.

    “We’re in a state of total paralysis caused by MPs not accepting the result of the 2016 referendum and doing everything they can to kick Brexit into the long grass.”

  • 20:43 GMT

    Johnson says that by failing to back a snap vote, Corbyn is now "the first leader of the opposition in the democratic history of our country to refuse the invitation of an election."

    He speculates that the reason is because he "does not think he can win."

  • 20:37 GMT

    Another loss for Johnson as the motion for a snap election fails with 298 votes for and 56 votes against.

    Johnson needed 434 votes to pass the motion.

  • 20:23 GMT

    MPs are now voting on PM Johnson's motion to hold an early general election.

    Johnson needs a two-thirds majority (434 votes) for parliament to back the plan. That is unlikely to happen, as Labour has said it will not back an election until the bill to block 'no-deal' and delay Brexit becomes law.

  • 20:18 GMT

    Neil Clark: John Baron MP makes a key point that "in no negotiation would you tell the other party you’d never walk out if the terms weren’t acceptable."

  • 20:15 GMT

    Brexit has made Britain the "laughing stock of the world," says Labour MP Thelma Walker.

    "Our country deserves far better," she adds.

    Walker says she wants an election but on "the opposition's terms."

  • 20:09 GMT

    There was some confusion in the chamber earlier as one of the amendment's to Benn's bill blocking 'no-deal' appeared to pass "by mistake" because there was no teller there to count votes against it.

    The amendment, added by Labour MP Stephen Kinnock, aimed to extend the Brexit delay so MPs could pass a version of former PM Theresa May's withdrawal agreement if a new deal was not negotiated.

  • 19:59 GMT

    Green Party MP Caroline Lucas has berated the Tory front-benchers for referring to problems that would be caused by a ‘no-deal’ Brexit as “bumps in the road.”

    They are only bumps in the road for those who have the “luxury of being insulated from the impact,” she said.

    Yesterday, Lucas slammed hardline Brexiter Jacob Rees-Mogg for “contemptuous” body language as he slouched in his seat during parliamentary debates.

  • 19:48 GMT

    There is “no doubt” that the UK will have a general election at some point this autumn, Alan Sked, professor emeritus at the London School of Economics told RT.

    It is not yet clear when that will happen, but when it does, it will be “one of the most bitterly contested election in the UK’s modern history.”

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