Speaker John Bercow Blocks Vote For Boris Johnson's Brexit Deal
21 October 2019, 15:39 | Updated: 21 October 2019, 16:10
Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow has blocked Number 10's request for MPs to have "a straight up-and-down vote" on the Prime Minister's Brexit deal today.
Boris Johnson tried to get backing for his deal in a Commons vote on Saturday however MPs support the decision to delay approval instead.
He said: “In summary today’s motion is in substance the same motion" as that on Saturday and the circumstances are also the same as that on Saturday.
He said the only difference from now and Saturday is that the Prime Minister has since applied for an extension of Article 50 which Bercow has found "not persuasive".
"My ruling is therefore that the motion will not be repeated today as it would be repetitive and disorderly to do so."
The Speaker's decision is not out of character; he has previously ruled out MPs voting on the same matter more than once and did so with Theresa May.
The Withdrawal Agreement legislation will also be published today.
