The UK government, after Parliament passed an amendment to force him to request an extension of Brexit, postponed the vote on an agreement with the EU until next week, said House Leader Jacob Reese-Mogh.
“The debate will take place on Monday,” he said.
In what form the agreement will be made and what will happen to the debate on the Queen’s throne speech, also scheduled for Monday, is still unclear.
Speaker John Birkow promised that after consultations with the government he will clarify the situation on Monday.
Voting on the agreement was supposed to take place on Saturday, but contrary to the calls of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the deputies adopted the amendment introduced by Oliver Letvin. According to the amendment, the prime minister will have to ask for a postponement of Brexit until 23:00 (01:00 Moscow time Sunday). It will be unclear whether he will ask – the prime minister’s office has not yet commented on the situation.
Letvin’s amendment is a kind of “insurance” for opponents of the “hard Brexit”: it seems to retain the support of the deputies of the agreement until the relevant law is adopted and the probability of leaving the EU without an agreement is not completely excluded. The adoption of the amendment is connected with fears that some unexpected turns of events could prevent Britain’s civilized exit from the EU and the country will simply “drop out” of the union on October 31.