Boris Johnson tonight suffered his first government defeat in his first Commons vote since becoming Prime Minister. Tory rebels joined forces with opposition MPs to take control of the agenda tomorrow – the first stage of their attempt to pass a law to legislate against no deal. The Commons voted 328 to 301 – meaning the government lost by 27 votes. This was on the high end of Tory expectations.
21 Tory MPs rebelled tonight, including Ken Clarke, David Gauke, Rory Stewart and Nicholas Soames. A No. 10 spokesman confirmed that this group will now have the whip removed: ‘The Chief Whip is speaking to those Tory MPs who did not vote with the government this evening. They will have the Tory whip removed.’
After the defeat was announced, Johnson addressed a badly tempered Commons to heavy heckling. He said there should be ‘no doubt about the consequences of this vote’ which means that ‘parliament is on the brink of wrecking any deal we might be able to strike in Brussels’.
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