British Parliament will not have "meaningful vote" on Boris Johnson's Brexit deal
London — British lawmakers will not vote on Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit deal on Monday, despite the leader's desire for "a straight up-and-down" decision by Parliament.
"The motion will not be debated today as it would be repetitive and disorderly to do so," Speaker of the House of Commons Johns Bercow said, arguing that Johnson had already had the opportunity for a yes-no vote in a special parliamentary session on Saturday, but he canceled it.
Bercow's decision does not, however, mean that Johnson's deal is dead.
"Meaningful vote"
Part of what is required for the U.K. to leave the EU is a "meaningful vote" in British Parliament, where lawmakers are given the opportunity to agree or disagree to the terms of any Brexit deal.
On Saturday, Boris Johnson wanted lawmakers to approve his deal with the EU through a "meaningful vote" so the government could begin the process of ratifying it.
But more is required to ratify the deal than just a "meaningful vote," and the government can continue the process without one.
In order to be ratified, parts of Johnson's Brexit deal will need to be passed into domestic U.K. law. The bill to do that is called the EU Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB), and it is expected that the text of that bill will be published late Monday. Parliament is expected to debate the WAB on Tuesday.
Opponents of Johnson's deal could try to slow down the WAB's passage into law by introducing amendments intended to delay proceedings until time runs out — the U.K. is currently scheduled to leave the EU on October 31. If they are successful, the EU could grant the U.K. an extension to that end-of-October deadline.
