MPs have inflicted a humiliating defeat on Boris Johnson by passing a backbench amendment withholding their support from his Brexit deal.
Instead of giving Johnson their backing for his Brexit deal in a “meaningful vote”, MPs passed an amendment tabled by a cross-party group of MPs led by Oliver Letwin by 322 votes to 306 – a majority of 16.
The prime minister will be legally obliged to request a Brexit delay at 11pm under the terms of the rebel Benn act, after the government lost the critical vote.
It came during a historic Saturday sitting of parliament, which saw the PM adopt an emollient tone, as he implored MPs to throw their weight behind his deal.
“Let us come together as democrats behind this deal, the one proposition that fulfils the verdict of the majority but which also allows us to bring together the two halves of our hearts, to bring together the two halves of our nation,” he urged them.
“Let us go for a deal that can heal this country and allow us all to express our legitimate desires for the deepest possible friendship and partnership with our neighbours. A deal that allows us to create a new shared destiny with them.”
Letwin said he was minded to support Johnson’s deal, but the aim of his amendment was “to keep in place the insurance policy provided by the Benn act, which prevents us from crashing out automatically if there is no deal by 31 October”.
Downing Street has repeatedly insisted it will comply with the requirements of the Benn act, which forces the PM to write to the EU and request an extension if he has not received parliamentary support for his deal by the deadline. But Johnson has also insisted he will not delay Brexit.
He hinted in his speech that EU leaders could rebuff Britain’s request for a delay, if he is forced to make it. “I must tell the house in all candour that there is very little appetite among our friends in the EU for this business to be protracted by one extra day,” he said.
He told MPs: “Whatever letters they may seek to force the government to write, it cannot change my judgment that further delay is pointless, expensive and deeply corrosive of public trust.”
After being defeated on the Letwin amendment, the government made clear that it would boycott the follow-up vote on the amended motion, which Downing Street sources said had now been rendered “meaningless”.
Before Letwin tabled his amendment, Downing Street had appeared tantalisingly close to achieving majority support for the last-minute deal the prime minister secured on Thursday, which outlines a looser economic relationship with the EU.
Ardent Eurosceptics including Mark Francois and Bill Cash had signalled that they would support the deal, despite the objections of the Democratic Unionist party (DUP).
And several Labour MPs, including Melanie Onn and Sarah Champion, who had rejected Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement, signalled that they too were ready to vote with the government.
The DUP’s backing was key to the success of Letwin’s amendment, after they rejected Johnson’s Brexit deal on Thursday.
In a passionate speech to the Commons, DUP politician Sammy Wilson said that the agreement cut off Northern Ireland from the country “to which we belong”.
“We will not give in to this agreement which we believe does damage to our part of the United Kingdom and which will lead to the focus of attention away from London, towards Dublin.
“Because don’t forget we will be tied into an arrangement where the laws for Northern Ireland are made in Brussels, the British government will have no input, the Stormont government will have no interest … so we move towards a united Ireland.”
On the Letwin amendment, he said: “We would be failing in our duty if we do not use every strategy which is available to try and give guarantees, changes and alterations which will safeguard the interests of the United Kingdom, our constituents and the interests we represent.”
