The January option: what is the latest Brexit delay plan?

Rebel MPs plan to force Boris Johnson to request a three-month Brexit extension from the European Union if he cannot secure a new deal with Brussels by 19 October.

Under the new plan, revealed yesterday, a cross-party group of MPs hopes to pass legislation that would require the prime minister to seek a delay until the end of January. The proposed bill would also give Parliament the final say if Brussels offered a longer or shorter extension.

Although the bill would not block a no-deal Brexit, it would mean such an outcome would have to be triggered by the EU or Parliament, rather than it being the default legal option.

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The Independent says “heavyweight Tories”, including Philip Hammond and David Gauke, the ex-justice secretary, are among the bill’s backers.

The Times says the plan was a “delicate compromise” between Labour and Tory MPs who are in favour of a second referendum and those who just want to prevent the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Johnson attempted to pre-empt the proposed bill when he announced yesterday that there were no circumstances in which he would ask Brussels to delay the UK’s departure from the EU.

The government threatened to call a general election if it loses this week’s key votes, but Tory Remainers are confident that they have the numbers to take control of the Commons timetable and pass the legislation.

After Jeremy Corbyn said he would welcome a general election, the Conservative rebels called on Labour to block any government move to call an election, which would require the support of two thirds of MPs to pass.

The Telegraph says Downing Street is expected to make this week’s vote a “confidence issue,” telling MPs they must side with the government or face de-selection.

However, The Guardian says the rebels were “defiant” about Johnson’s threats of deselection and an early general election, with “at least 17 Conservative MPs saying privately or publicly that they have not been deterred from voting to stop a no-deal Brexit”.

In a sign of disunity around the cabinet table, one of Johnson’s ministers voiced discomfort over Johnson’s tactics. The work and pensions secretary, Amber Rudd, said: “We should not be a party that is trying to remove from our party two former chancellors, a number of ex-cabinet ministers… the way to hold our party together and to get a deal is to bring them onside and explain to them what we’re trying to do and why.”