What happened in the House of Commons last night?
Boris Johnson put his renegotiated Brexit deal before MPs in the form of a piece of legislation called the Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB).
Although the prime minister managed to get a majority of MPs to back his plan, something has has not managed in four previous attempts, MPs declined to support his proposal to race the legislation through the Commons in three days.
MPs, from across the political spectrum, told the prime minister that three days was not an adequate period of time to give the proper line by line scrutiny required for such an important piece of legislation.
What will the prime minister do next?
Following the defeat Mr Johnson said the Government will “pause” the WAB until the EU reaches a decision on a Brexit extension.
The EU has indicated it will grant an extension and the length of that delay will determine Mr Johnson’s next move.
If a short delay is granted Mr Johnson may seek to continue with the passage of the WAB with the hope of getting Brexit done before the end of the year.
If a longer extension is given – potentially pushing Brexit back into early next year – the prime minister has signalled he would attempt to call a general election.
When could an election be held?
Once an election is called, there has to be a gap of at least five weeks before polling day as the law requires Parliament to dissolve 25 working days before the election.
What does all this mean for Brexit?
While Mr Johnson will take comfort in the fact that his deal got the backing of a majority of MPs in the Commons, his promise to take the UK out of the EU on October 31 “do or die” looks to now be impossible. There will be another delay to the Brexit date, whether that is by a few weeks or several months has yet to be decided.
