British Prime Minister Boris Johnson won one vote and lost another in Parliament on Tuesday, 23 October, a result that inches him closer to his goal of leading Britain out of the European Union — but effectively guarantees it won't happen on the scheduled date of 31 October.
The good news for the prime minister was that lawmakers — for the first time since Britons chose in 2016 to leave the EU — voted for a Brexit plan, backing by 329-299 a bill to implement the agreement Johnson struck with the EU last week.
But minutes later, legislators rejected his fast-track timetable to pass the bill, saying they needed more time to scrutinize it. The vote went 322-308 against the government.
Johnson responded by stopping the legislation dead in its tracks. He had planned to push it through the House of Commons by Thursday. But he said he would "pause" the legislation until the EU had decided whether to agree to delay Britain's departure.
With the Brexit deadline looming and British politicians still squabbling over the country’s departure terms, Johnson was forced to ask the EU for a three-month delay to Britain’s departure date.
He did that, grudgingly, to comply with a law passed by Parliament ordering the government to postpone Brexit rather than risk the economic damage that could come from a no-deal exit.
European Council President Donald Tusk said earlier Tuesday that EU leaders "will decide in coming days" whether to grant Britain that extension — what would be the third. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told French lawmakers Tuesday that he sees "no justification" at this stage for a further delay.
But Tuesday’s votes make it all but impossible for Johnson to fulfil his often-repeated promise to lead Britain out of the EU on 31 October.
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