Brexit deal vote: Boris Johnson pleads with MPs not to render vote 'meaningless'

Boris Johnson will be forced to call off a showdown vote on his Brexit deal and request a further delay from the EU if MPs back an ‘insurance policy’ amendment to avoid a no-deal scenario, Downing Street has admitted.

The amendment from former Tory MP Sir Oliver Letwin would withhold support for the Brexit deal until after the passage of the Withdrawal Act Implementation Bill.

That means a legal deadline requiring the Prime Minister to send a letter to Brussels by tonight, asking for an extension of the 31 October Brexit date if a deal hasn’t been agreed, will elapse.

Brexit deal vote: MPs debate on Boris Johnson's withdrawal plan as parliament si...

Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay told the Commons that supporting the Letwin amendment would “render tonight’s vote meaningless”.

And a Downing Street spokesman said: "A vote for Letwin is a vote for delay. The public would be appalled if MPs just vote for another pointless delay again."

A Number 10 source confirmed that Mr Letwin, who had the Tory whip removed for rebelling to try block a no-deal Brexit, was in Downing Street for talks on Friday night.

The government cannot withdraw a vote on the Brexit deal if the Letwin amendment passes, but Tory MPs will be sent home after being called into Westminster on Saturday, it is understood.

The Withdrawal Agreement Implementation Bill will be published on Monday and is set to be voted on at second reading on Tuesday, with Downing Street set to reschedule a ‘meaningful vote’ on the Brexit deal immediately afterwards.

Opening the historic weekend sitting of parliament - the first since the Falklands War - Mr Johnson urged MPs to back the Brexit deal, telling them that the time had come to heal the rift in British politics.

The agreement he has struck with Brussels would allow the UK to leave "whole and entire" on October 31, he said.

Appealing to MPs to reject the Letwin amendment, Mr Johnson said: "This is momentous occasion for our country and our Parliament.