What the House of Lords’ late-night pact means for Brexit

A bill to block a no-deal Brexit was passed by MPs on Wednesday, as Boris Johnson maintained his 100% vote defeat record as prime minister.

The so-called Benn bill will complete its passage through the Lords on Friday, despite earlier fears that Brexiteer peers could deliberately obstruct it to avoid it getting Royal Assent before Parliament is prorogued next week.

The BBC says that peers sat until 1.30am, holding a series of amendment votes, prompting concern that a “a marathon filibuster session” to derail the bill was underway.

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“The bill, presented by Labour MP Hilary Benn, says the prime minister will have until 19 October to either pass a deal in Parliament or get MPs to approve a no-deal Brexit,” explains the broadcaster.

“Once this deadline has passed, he will have to request an extension to the UK's departure date to 31 January 2020.”

In an illustration of the mood of determination, Liberal Democrat leader in the Lords, Richard Newby, tweeted a photograph of himself arriving armed with “duvet, change of clothes and shaving kit”.

However, Lord Ashton of Hyde announced later that all stages of the bill would be completed in the Lords by 5pm on Friday after a pact had been made.

The Commons chief whip has pledged that MPs will consider any Lords amendments on Monday and that the Government intends that the “bill will be ready to be present for Royal Assent”.

It was a day of “triple defeat” for Johnson, says The Guardian.

The bid by MPs to block a no-deal Brexit easily cleared its second and third readings, and Johnson failed in his bid to force a snap general election.

A motion tabled by Johnson calling for an early poll was backed by 298 MPs, short of the two-thirds required, after Labour MPs had been whipped to abstain.

However, a general election in the near future seems increasingly likely. Jeremy Corbyn has signalled that he would back Johnson’s call for a snap poll once the bill opposing a no-deal Brexit bill has passed into law.

The Labour leader told MPs, “we want an election, because we look forward to turfing this government out.” But he claimed Johnson’s proposal for a 15 October poll was, “a bit like the offer of an apple to Snow White by the wicked queen”.

Jo Swinson, the Liberal Democrat leader, said she would only back an election once Article 50 has been extended. “We do relish the opportunity to fight an election, and we are confident that we would make significant gains. Yet stopping no deal is the priority and in the best national interest,” she said.

Sky News explains that there are four ways for a general election to be called. The first is to use a motion under the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act, a route that he has already failed in. Then, under the same Act, there could be a vote of no-confidence from the opposition, or a new one-line bill or the resignation of Johnson.

The broadcaster adds: “If the cross-party group of MPs trying to delay a no-deal Brexit succeed in getting the deadline moved to 31 January 2020, that would leave more breathing space for an election later in the winter.”