British MPs rejected Boris Johnson’s three-day Brexit legislation timetable by 322 votes to 308 on Tuesday evening.
It’s a major blow to the UK prime minister’s wish to deliver Brexit by October 31. Johnson said after the motion to accelerate the deal failed that he would “pause” the Brexit legislation.
Earlier, parliamentarians gave the Brexit legislation its first nod of approval in parliament, voting 329 to 299 to approve the second reading of the 110-page withdrawal bill.
Johnson said earlier in the day during the first debate on the bill in the House of Commons that Downing Street would pull the Brexit bill and push for an early election in the event that MPs rejects the legislation’s timetable and the EU accepts a delay.
“If Parliament refuses to allow Brexit to happen and instead gets its way and decides to delay everything until January or possibly longer, in no circumstances can the government continue with this and with great regret… I must say that the bill will have to be pulled and we will have to go forward…to a general election,” Johnson said.
The government wanted to rush through the legislation in just three days, moving to the report stage and third reading by Thursday.