Boris Johnson’s Halloween deadline drifts further away

Will the UK leave the EU on the 31 October? Barring the highly unlikely event of the EU refusing an extension, the answer to that question is no. This evening, MPs voted against the government’s programme motion to push the Withdrawal Agreement Bill through the Commons at breakneck speed – at 308 to 322. This means it is hard to see how the bill can pass the Commons without an extension being agreed with the EU.

On hearing the result, Boris Johnson told MPs that he would now put the bill on ‘pause’ and speak to EU leaders about the extension. He was at pains to say that this was parliament’s extension request – rather than something he wanted:

‘The first consequence, Mr Speaker, is that the government must take the only responsible course and accelerate our preparations for a no deal outcome.

But secondly, I will speak to EU member states about their intentions until they have reached a decision – until we reach a decision I will say – we will pause this legislation.