U.K. Parliament won't vote on Boris Johnson's Brexit deal today like he wanted


The Brexit clock is ticking for U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and he just hit another momentary snag.
With 10 days remaining until the Oct. 31 deadline, House of Commons Speaker John Bercow denied Johnson's attempt to put the Brexit deal he brokered with the European Union up for a "meaningful vote" Monday. Bercow said the motion was the same as the one that was debated Saturday before Parliament passed an amendment requiring Johnson to ask for an extension from the EU before voting on his deal, which he did begrudgingly.
Bercow said debating the motion again would "be repetitive and disorderly," citing a parliamentary rule from 1604 which prohibits the government from repeatedly asking Parliament to vote on the exact same motion. The speaker did say he was not preventing a vote on Johnson's legislation at a later date, but added that MPs must see the legislation, which is being introduced for a first reading Monday, first. Once they've gone through that, MPs will vote on whether to back it tomorrow.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Bercow received some pushback for his decision from Conservatives, and a spokesperson for Johnson said the government was "disappointed," but several other MPs respected the conclusion. Read more at The Financial Times and The Guardian.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raids
Speed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
Why can't France hold on to its prime ministers?
Today's Big Question Spiralling debt, ageing population and cultural refusal to accept budget cuts – despite high welfare spending – have been turbocharged by Emmanuel Macron
-
The runners and riders for the Labour deputy leadership
The Explainer Race to replace Angela Rayner likely to come down to Starmer loyalist vs. soft-left MP supported by backbenchers and unions
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fine
Speed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in Intel
Speed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to China
Speed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with Disney
Speed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year