Cabinet ministers arrived at Downing Street ahead of two pivotal votes in parliament that will decide if Prime Minister Boris Johnson can deliver on his promise to lead the United Kingdom out of the European Union in nine days’ time.
As the clock ticks down to the latest Oct. 31 deadline for Britain’s departure, Brexit is hanging in the balance as a divided parliament debates when, how and even whether it should happen.
In yet another day of high drama, MP’s will vote at around 1800 GMT on the 115-page Withdrawal Agreement Bill and then vote on the government’s extremely tight timetable for approving the legislation.
Defeat in either vote would scupper Johnson’s plans to leave the EU with or without a deal on Oct. 31.
Victory, while an imperfect indicator of possible support for Johnson’s deal, would simply open up another opportunity for opponents to ambush the minority government in parliament with amendments that could wreck the PM’s plans by demanding a much closer post-Brexit relationship with the EU.
