Britain 's House of Commons calls for postponement of Brexit and Johnson refuses

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's House of Commons on Saturday approved an amendment requiring Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ask for a postponement of Britain's planned exit from the European Union, which Johnson quickly rejected.

At a weekly cabinet session for the first time in 37 years, dubbed by the British media as "Great Saturday", a majority of lawmakers approved the legislative amendment, which aims to give MPs more time to discuss the Brexit deal with the EU. .

The Brexit deadline is October 31, and Johnson insists he stick to it even if Britain is forced out without an agreement.

But the amendment, which was approved by the Council today by 322 votes to 306 and submitted by MP Oliver Litwin, aims to avoid the risk of Brexit without an agreement, if the agreement signed by Johnson does not accept.

For his part, the Prime Minister rejected the legislative amendment and said it was not binding on him, stressing that he would not ask Brussels to postpone the date of leaving the European Union.

European Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva said Brussels "took note of the vote in the House of Commons today on an amendment to delay the vote on the agreement," adding that "the British government must inform us of the next steps." as fast as possible".

This is the first time that the British parliament has held its session on a weekend, since the Falkland War 37 years ago.

Before voting on the legislative amendment, Johnson called on MPs to vote in favor of his new agreement, stressing that he had scrapped the safety net on the Irish border and would allow the UK "in all its provinces" to withdraw from the European bloc and sign free trade agreements with any country in the world.

Johnson indicated during the hearing that Britain would withdraw from the EU by the end of October if parliament rejects the exit deal.

The deal, which was extracted at the last minute after tough negotiations, should allow for the settlement of the conditions of secession after 46 years of membership, allowing a quiet exit with a transitional period that lasts until at least the end of 2020, but the success of the agreement is linked to the approval of the parliament, which has shown a rigid position in the past.

Parliament recently adopted a law requiring Johnson not to withdraw without agreement. The non-majority government in the House of Commons needs 320 votes to pass the new deal. If the agreement is approved, it should be submitted to the European Parliament for ratification.

Opponents
Opposition parties have announced that they will oppose the agreement. The Liberal Democratic Party (19 votes) and the Scottish National Party (35 votes) oppose Brexit. The Labor Party (242 votes) sees the new agreement as weakening workers' rights, while environmentalists (the Greens, one vote) The Agreement does not respect the environment.

The main opponents of the text are Northern Ireland's Unionists, represented by the DUP (10 votes) and Johnson's allies in parliament. They consider the text to give their province a different status and isolate it from the rest of Britain.

For his part, the leader of the British Labor Party Jeremy Corbin that the new agreement Brexit worse than the previous agreement, and stressed in a speech to parliament, he would not support the agreement, which he considered a threat to many sectors.

Corbin said: "Vote on the agreement today will not end the Brexit, I am sure it will not work and we will not support this agreement. I fully understand the frustration and fatigue we are going through but we cannot vote for it simply because it is worse than the previous agreement rejected by parliament in three Occasions".

Thousands of Britons are demonstrating in the streets of central London in conjunction with the House of Commons, demanding that the Brexit deal be put to a referendum.

Around 170 buses arrived in London on Saturday morning from various British cities carrying hundreds of demonstrators demanding that the final word on the issue of Brexit to the people through a general vote, including the option to remain in the European Union.