Summary

  • Brexit delay bill passes the House of Commons

  • It would force Boris Johnson to ask EU for delay to Brexit to prevent no deal

  • PM says there must now be a general election

  • But his bid to hold one on 15 October fails due to lack of opposition support

  • Earlier, chancellor set out spending plans for coming year

  1. 'Bring it on' - SNP MPpublished at 21:21 British Summer Time 3 September 2019

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    SNP MP Tommy Sheppard tells Parliament that his party is "ready for an election".

    "Bring it on," he says.

    However he adds that an election must either come before 31 October or the October deadline should be extended "so that the people can elect a Parliament before this fait acompli is presented to them".

  2. 'Bullied and blackmailed'published at 21:16 British Summer Time 3 September 2019

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Anna SoubryImage source, HoC

    Anna Soubry, the leader of the Independent Group for Change, pays tribute to those Conservative MPs who have supported the bill to prevent a no-deal Brexit on 31 October.

    She says they have been "bullied and blackmailed" but urges other MPs to follow their example.

    "This is about our country, this about your own respect," she says.

    "This is about whether you can look at yourself in the mirror and not been ashamed of what looks back at you.

    "This is about the moment when your grandchildren ask you how on earth did you stand by and let this disaster of a no-deal Brexit happen.

    "We at least will be able to say we did the right thing and we put our country, and not our careers, first."

  3. When are we expecting a vote?published at 21:15 British Summer Time 3 September 2019

    The emergency debate for MPs - granted under a Commons rule to allow urgent discussion - may last up to three hours, with the main vote expected about 22.00 BST. The cross-party alliance is hoping to take control of Parliament's agenda.

    That will give them the chance to introduce a bill which would force the prime minister to ask for Brexit to be delayed until 31 January, unless MPs approve a new deal, or vote in favour of a no-deal exit, by 19 October.

  4. Labour Leavers plan to revive May's dealpublished at 21:04 British Summer Time 3 September 2019

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  5. A historical precedent?published at 21:04 British Summer Time 3 September 2019

    Journalist Joy Lo Dico posed an interesting question on Twitter, with an eye to Boris Johnson's possible defeat tonight over the control of the Parliamentary agenda.

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    Demonstrating apparently encyclopaedic knowledge, the Independent's chief political commentator John Rentoul had an answer: There was a precedent.

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  6. This afternoon in picturespublished at 21:02 British Summer Time 3 September 2019

    Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks earlier at the despatch boxImage source, UK Parliament / Roger Harris
    Image caption,

    Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks at the despatch box earlier today

    Lib Dem MP Tom Brake speaks to his new colleague Phillip Lee, who defected from the Conservatives this afternoon, after he crossed the floor and sat next to his new party's leader, Jo SwinsonImage source, UK Parliament / Roger Harris
    Image caption,

    Lib Dem MP Tom Brake chats to his new colleague Phillip Lee, who defected from the Conservatives this afternoon, after crossing the floor to sit next to his new party leader, Jo Swinson

    Boris Johnson's predecessor Theresa May smiles at the Father of the House of Commons Ken Clarke, as she makes herself comfortable in the backbenchesImage source, UK Parliament / Jessica Taylor
    Image caption,

    Former prime minister Theresa May smiles at the Father of the House of Commons Ken Clarke as she makes herself comfortable in the backbenches

    Jeremy Corbyn is surrounded by his frontbench colleagues as they listen to the governmentImage source, UK Parliament / Roger Harris
    Image caption,

    Jeremy Corbyn is surrounded by his frontbench colleagues as they listen to the government

  7. PM is 'unreliable, not honest and untrustworthy'published at 21:00 British Summer Time 3 September 2019

    BBC News Channel

    Emily Thornberry

    Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry tells the BBC Labour will not back the prime minister's motion for a general election if he loses in Parliament, because they cannot rely on him to keep his word.

    She says: "I know him well, he is unreliable, not honest and I wouldn’t trust him."

    Ms Thornberry says that Labour fears if they voted for an election, they could not be sure that he would honour the 14 October date before the Brexit deadline.

    "He’s going to prorogue Parliament, lock us out of the building and we’re supposed to say, of course we will trust you?" she says.

    "We think there is another way, and of course we want a Labour government, we will go for a general election at a time of our choosing not on a wing and a prayer offered us by Boris Johnson."

    She adds that this is an "extreme government that is irrational, irresponsible and is just into chaos".

    Risking a no-deal Brexit would mean possibly running out of key medicines for conditions such as schizophrenia, limited choice of food and "queues around the block for petrol", she says.

    "We cannot have this and we will not agree to it."

  8. 'Opening up a chasm of distrust' - Liam Foxpublished at 20:58 British Summer Time 3 September 2019

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Liam FoxImage source, HoC

    Conservative MP - and former International Trade Secretary - Liam Fox says: "We in this political bubble very often argue about the process and fail to see the big picture which is what our voters are looking at.

    "We didn't ask for an opinion from our voters, we asked for an instruction.

    "We said we would honour it and we are honour-bound to do so."

    He says he fears that by supporting the bill "we are opening up a chasm of distrust between Parliament and the British people."

  9. Boles: I have no regretspublished at 20:57 British Summer Time 3 September 2019

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Nick BolesImage source, HoC

    Former Conservative MP Nick Boles, now an independent, recalls being driven from hospital - where he was receiving chemotherapy - to Parliament in order to vote for the bill triggering Article 50.

    "Since that moment I have done everything in my power to deliver Brexit with a deal to protect jobs," he says.

    He points out he voted for the former PM's withdrawal agreement, "while the current prime minister was breaking the Conservative whip and voting with the opposition".

    "What I will not do is allow a no-deal Brexit," he says.

    "Taking this stand cost me the support of my local party and in Parliament it led me to leave the Conservative Party.

    "But I have no regrets.

    "I can look people in the eye knowing that I have done what I believe is right.

    "And I have put the interest of the country before my own comfort and career.

    "How many in the cabinet can say the same?"

  10. Tory whip starts crackdown on rebelspublished at 20:51 British Summer Time 3 September 2019

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  11. PM loyalists in Lords plan delaying tacticspublished at 20:48 British Summer Time 3 September 2019

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    The BBC's Nicholas Watt says that ministers are trying to block rebels from an "unprecedented" move to set a time limit on the debate - if the bill against no deal is passed in the Commons and comes to the Lords.

    He adds that one supporter of the PM says that they hope to have two votes on each of the 90 amendments, which they hope will "take up 90 hours".

  12. It's been a long day...published at 20:45 British Summer Time 3 September 2019

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    Jacob Rees-Mogg
  13. 'We must be allowed to govern ourselves'published at 20:44 British Summer Time 3 September 2019

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Bill CashImage source, HoC

    Conservative - and long term eurosceptic - Bill Cash now speaks.

    He says that many of those behind the bill, simply do not wish to leave the EU and seeks to persuade them of the benefits of Brexit.

    "We must be allowed to govern ourselves," he says.

    "We do not govern ourselves and if we stay in this European Union we will never be able to do so."

  14. 'Democracy never disappears with a bang'published at 20:43 British Summer Time 3 September 2019

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Helen JonesImage source, HoC

    Labour's Helen Jones says she is "profoundly disturbed" by "the contempt for parliamentary democracy the prime minister has shown by seeking a five week prorogation of Parliament".

    "Democracy never disappears with a bang," she says.

    "It disappears with incremental steps.

    "Each step justified by saying things need to be sorted out, things need to be done, people are blocking the way."

  15. 'Tension' in Labour over election dilemmapublished at 20:43 British Summer Time 3 September 2019

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  16. Clarke praises Rees-Mogg for 'keeping a straight face'published at 20:23 British Summer Time 3 September 2019

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    Parliament

    Ken ClarkeImage source, HoC

    Conservative Ken Clarke, who as the longest continuously serving MP holds the title of Father of the House, now begins to speak.

    He says the reason for the motion is because "the government is insisting on pursuing a policy which it knows Parliament is opposed to."

    He says it would be "quite horrendous" for Parliament to "allow itself to be sidelined".

    He congratulates the Leader of the House Jacob Rees-Mogg for "keeping a straight face" while he is making "incredible" arguments.

  17. 'An outrageous assault on democratic values'published at 20:17 British Summer Time 3 September 2019

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Ian BlackfordImage source, HoC

    Mr Blackford says the decision to suspend Parliament is an "outrageous assault on basic democratic values".

    He notes that in the last 40 years, "Parliament has never been prorogued for longer than three weeks."

    "To try and argue that five weeks is normal, is to be polite, disingenuous," he says.

    "The real reason he can't bear to let Parliament debate is because he knows he does not have the majority to support his disastrous plan."

  18. Government is 'running away' - SNPpublished at 20:12 British Summer Time 3 September 2019

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford now begins his speech.

    "It is not normal for Parliament to be prorogued," he says.

    He accuses the government of "running away from the powers and responsibilities that this House has".

  19. Johnson 'trying to gag Parliament' - Labour MPpublished at 20:11 British Summer Time 3 September 2019

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    Seema MalhotraImage source, UK Parliament

    Labour MP Seema Malhotra says Boris Johnson is "squatting in Downing Street".

    "I think he's trying to gag Parliament and I think the description of this as a smash and grab raid on parliamentary democracy is absolutely what it is," she tells the BBC.

    "It is extraordinary that we have someone who calls themselves a prime minister with the kind of schoolboy theatre that he displayed in Parliament today."

  20. Rees-Mogg: Sovereignty comes from the peoplepublished at 20:04 British Summer Time 3 September 2019

    House of Commons
    Parliament

    Jacob Rees-Mogg now concludes his speech.

    "Sovereignty comes from the people to Parliament," he says.

    "It does not come from Parliament out of a void.

    "If Parliament tries to challenge the people, this stretches the elastic of our constitution to breaking point."