‘No more delays!’ Boris Johnson vents fury after Remainer MPs BLOCK vote on his Brexit deal by 322 to 306 in ‘Super Saturday’ stitch-up – with Jeremy Corbyn demanding that he ‘obeys the law’ and begs EU for extension

Boris Johnson vowed not to ‘negotiate a delay’ to Brexit today after his moment of triumph on a deal was dramatically snatched away by a Remainer plot.

Despite frantic efforts, the PM failed to fend off an amendment tabled by former Cabinet minister Sir Oliver Letwin, which prevented his new package being put to a formal vote this afternoon. 

Mr Johnson now faces being compelled by the Benn Act to ask the EU for a Brexit extension tonight – but he defiantly insisted he would not change his stance.

Responding to the result, he raged: ’The best thing for the UK and for the whole of Europe is for us to leave with this new deal on October 31.

‘I will not negotiate a delay with the EU and neither does the law compel me to do so.’

He added: ‘No delays, and I will continue to do all I can to get Brexit done on October 31.’ 

Mr Johnson said his deal is not dead and he is expected to bring forward implementation legislation and hold a new vote on Tuesday. 

He swiped: ‘The meaningful vote has been voided of meaning.’

But Jeremy Corbyn demanded the PM ‘obeys the law’ and asked the EU for an extension. Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson urged Speaker John Bercow to suspend the sitting so the PM could go and write the letter, and return to inform them it can be sent.  

Government whips had admitted they were not hopeful of defeating the Letwin amendment – which he insists is only intended to stave off the threat of No Deal. ‘Lots of people do seem to have been brought in by his arguments sadly,’ one told told MailOnline. 

Mr Johnson held last-ditch meetings with the DUP, who have accused him of betrayal for striking a deal that undermines the union, as he pleaded with them to come to the rescue. Sources said the overtures had not gone down well. ‘They are not in a positive place,’ they said ruefully. 

Kicking off the ‘Super Saturday’ showdown in the House of Commons earlier, Mr Johnson complained that there might not be a ‘meaningful’ decision for days longer. 

He said it was ‘urgent’ for the country to get past the standoff and ‘unite’, saying his deal can ‘heal the rift in British politics’. ‘Now is the time for this great House of Commons to come together and bring the country together today,’ he insisted. 

Mr Johnson warned the ‘scope for fruitful negotiation has run its course’. ‘It is now my judgement that we have reached the best possible solution,’ he said.  

Sources have revealed that Mr Johnson held crisis talks with Sir Oliver in Downing Street last night as he tried to head off the crisis, but without success. 

Ironically, the roadblock emerged just as the premier seemed to be on the brink of a breakthrough.

He has been boosted by the support of leading Tory ‘Spartan’ Mark Francois and ex-Cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith, and Steve Baker, head of the Eurosceptic ERG bloc, today urged his colleagues to fall into line.

There is mounting speculation that at least a dozen Labour MPs would support the package dramatically thrashed out with Brussels this week. 

That would offset furious opposition from his former DUP allies and Jeremy Corbyn, and put the premier on the threshold of an historic triumph that could define the country for a generation.

However, despite polls showing the public is weary of three years of bitter wrangling after the referendum, an extraordinary piece of Parliamentary trickery could yet deprive the PM of the ‘clean’ vote he craves on his deal.

Sir Oliver – who served in Cabinet under David Cameron – has tabled an amendment that would effectively deny approval of the deal until after detailed implementation law has been passed.

Speaker John Bercow confirmed this morning that he had selected the change for debate, and it could be passed with support from Labour and Lib Dem Remainers, many of whom still want a referendum to cancel Brexit altogether.

The fact that Letwin’s amendment does not outright kill the deal – and the government’s lack of a majority – means that many MPs will endorse the amendment instead of giving the Prime Minister his moment of truth.

Labour MP Gareth Snell, who is widely expected to support the deal when it comes to a vote, told the Commons he would back the Letwin move. 

However, it was angrily condemned by a series of other MPs including Labour’s Caroline Flint, who branded it a ‘panic measure’. She said the plot demonstrated that the ‘sponsors of the Benn Act had only one intention – to delay Brexit and stop it’.   

In another day of high-stakes drama at the Houses of Parliament as the Brexit saga drew towards a culmination:

• Furious Tories turned on Sir Oliver branding him ‘too clever by half’ and accusing him of making the first Saturday sitting since the Falklands War ‘meaningless’; 
• Mr Johnson appealed for MPs to ‘get Brexit done’ saying that the public was sick and tired of the situation overshadowing their priorities on the NHS and law and order; 
• The chiefs of the Eurosceptic ERG bloc urged its MPs to back the PM in a key boost for the deal’s prospects. David Trimble, an architect of the Good Friday Agreement, has endorsed it; 
• The DUP voiced anger, with deputy leader Nigel Dodds confronting Mr Johnson saying ‘weariness’ on Brexit is ‘no excuse for weakness on Brexit and weakness on the union’; 
• Former chancellor Philip Hammond suggested he will back the Letwin amendment and oppose the deal, saying he would not be tricked into support a ‘camouflaged No Deal’ at the end of the transition period; 
• Remainers kept pushing for a second referendum with Tony Blair urging MPs to be ‘patient’ and oppose the deal so that there would need to be another public ballot;  
• European leaders watched closely after Emmanuel Macron and Leo Varadkar warned there was no guarantee that they will grant any request for an extension – suggesting MPs will have to choose between this deal and No Deal; 
• Mr Johnson held out an olive branch to Labour MPs by pledging an automatic right to vote on whether to adopt future EU laws on workers’ rights; 

If Mr Johnson fails to fend off the challenge, the rebel Benn Act dictates that he must beg the EU for an extension by tonight – breaking his ‘do or die’ vow to get the UK out of the bloc by October 31.

Mr Johnson seemed to accept during his statement to MPs this morning that he will send a letter asking for a delay. ‘Whatever letters they may seek to enforce the Government to write, it cannot change my judgement that further delay is pointless, expensive and deeply corrosive of public trust,’ he said.  

In his statement to MPs as the debate kicked off this morning, Mr Johnson said the Brexit issue must not be allowed to ‘consume’ Westminster any more. 

‘I do hope that in assembling for the purposes of a meaningful vote that we will indeed be allowed to have a meaningful vote this evening,’ he said.  

‘The House will need no reminding that this is the second deal and the fourth vote, three-and-a-half years after the nation voted for Brexit. 

‘And during those years friendships have been strained, families divided and the attention of this House consumed by a single issue that has at times felt incapable of resolution. 

‘But I hope that this is the moment when we can finally achieve that resolution and reconcile the instincts that compete within us.’ 

Mr Johnson said the agreement ‘provides for a real Brexit’, adding: ‘Taking back control of our borders, laws, money, farming, fisheries and trade – amounting to the greatest single restoration of national sovereignty in parliamentary history. 

‘It removes the backstop, which would have held us against our will in the customs union and much of the single market. 

‘For the first time in almost five decades the UK will be able to strike free trade deals with our friends across the world.’ 

Mr Johnson played down DUP concerns that Northern Ireland had been cut loose by Britain in the deal, telling MPs: ‘Above all we and our European friends have preserved the letter and the spirit of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and upheld the longstanding areas of cooperation between the UK and Ireland, including the common travel area.’ 

A shout of ‘it’s a sell out’ could be heard from one MP on the opposition benches as Mr Johnson spoke. 

But Mr Corbyn made clear that Labour will back the Letwin amendment and oppose the deal.

‘Labour is not prepared to sell out the communities that we represent,’ he raged. 

‘We are not prepared to sell out their future and we will not back this sell-out deal. ‘This is about our communities now and about our future generations.’ 

During the debate, Theresa May launched a vicious tirade at Remainer MPs mounting a ‘con trick’ to reverse the referendum result today as she backed Boris Johnson’s deal. 

The former PM warned that the ‘eyes of the world are on us’ as she urged colleagues to get behind the new package thrashed out with Brussels.

She demanded MPs who are planning to oppose the deal ‘put the national interest first’ and honour the will of the public.

‘Do we want to deliver Brexit?’ she stormed. ‘When we voted to trigger Article 50 did we really mean it?’

Earlier, the DUP’s 10 MPs underlined their opposition to the deal, saying it would undermine the union. Deputy leader Nigel Dodds told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘We will not be supporting the Government, we will be voting against.

‘Because it isn’t Brexit for the whole of the United Kingdom.’ 

The PM has been focusing his efforts on Tory Eurosceptics, 21 former Tory rebels, and up to 30 Labour ‘realists’ who have suggested they could line up behind the proposals. Some 28 Conservative ‘Spartans’ did not vote for Theresa May’s deal on any of the three occasions it was brought, but Mr Johnson looks set to secure backing from almost all over them. 

With around a dozen Labour MPs appearing minded to defy threats of deselection and support the deal, the bulk of 21 former Tory rebels coming round, and a handful of independents, the government is on the threshold of the 320 winning line. 

Mr Francois told his Rayleigh constitution association last night that he would be supporting the deal. Another ‘Spartan’ Anne-Marie Morris has also said she will be voting in favour.

Another Tory hardliner, Peter Bone, said he was yet to decide for certain but was minded to fall into line. ‘I will vote for his deal if it’s made clear in the Commons today we will leave the transition period on December 31 2020 and no later,’ Mr Bone said.

Mr Duncan Smith urged his colleagues to back the deal, and swiped that Sir Oliver should ‘stow’ his concerns. 

‘I beg my colleagues… we have got to vote down the Letwin amendment,’ he told the BBC. ‘This vote has to be clear to our partners in Europe and clear to the country that we are now on a track to leave under this deal. 

‘I just wish Oliver Letwin, for once, would stow it now.’ He added: ‘I beg my colleagues, it’s for the country now, we have to get this over the line.’ 

Senior backbencher Damian Collins tweeted: ‘The Letwin amendment is another of those Brexit ideas which is too clever by half. If it passes it effectively renders today’s Saturday sitting of parliament meaningless, at a time when the country and the EU needs to know whether parliament accepts the new withdrawal deal or not.’ 

One government source said of the Letwin amendment: ‘If it passes, it’s an act of sabotage dressed up as reasonableness. MPs are still trying to put off the moment of decision.’

Sir Oliver insisted that he was a supporter of the Prime Minister’s plans and that it was only designed to act as an insurance policy to ensure that the UK did not leave the EU without a deal on October 31.

But a Government source said: ‘The amendment is not about conditional approval – it is explicitly withholding approval. The vast majority of the signatories have no intention of ever voting for a deal, and have never done so. They want an extension and a chance for a second referendum.’ 

ERG chairman Steve Baker tweeted the group’s ‘advice to MPs’ after a meeting this morning: ‘1. Vote for Boris’s deal in the national interest. 

‘2. Support the legislation to completion in good faith, provided it is not spoiled by opponents of Brexit. 

‘3. Vote with Boris throughout to give him maximum opportunity to deliver for our country.’ 

However, former Tory Antoinette Sandbach confirmed that she will not be joining the government in the division lobbies, saying the package is worse than Mrs May’s plan. 

Mr Hammond said he would not be ‘duped’ into backing something that could lead to a ‘heavily camouflaged no-deal’ departure.

The ex-top minister said the Prime Minister needed to ‘reassure’ sceptics like him that the withdrawal agreement would not lead to the UK crashing out of the EU next year because the backstop had been removed.

It came after Tory MP John Baron claimed yesterday that he had been assured by No 10 that the deal would allow the UK to sever ties with the EU if it fails to secure a trade deal.

Writing in the Times Mr Hammond said: ‘My former colleague, John Baron MP, gave the game away: they are being told that, once we are out, the UK will make a take-it-or-leave-it proposal for a minimum-ambition,”Canada-minus” trade deal on the UK’s terms and when the EU rejects it, the UK will leave without a trade deal at the end of 2020.

‘I haven’t come this far seeking to avoid no deal in 2019 to be duped into voting for a heavily camouflaged no-deal at the end of 2020. But I am not a lost cause!’

Meanwhile, Remainers stepped up their efforts to thwart a resolution of Brexit standoff and force a referendum.

Former prime minister Tony Blair told the Today programme: ‘If this deal had been put before the British parliament a year ago, or two years ago, there is absolutely no way it would pass.  

‘The only reason the Government can try and get it passed now is frankly… people are completely fed up with Brexit. They want it over. They want it done with.’  

Voters last night threw their weight behind Mr Johnson‘s Brexit deal.

On the eve of today’s dramatic Commons vote on his withdrawal plan, 50 per cent said MPs should back it.

The Survation poll for the Daily Mail showed 38 per cent were against the deal with 12 per cent undecided.

The survey found a surge in support for the Tories following the Prime Minister’s breakthrough at this week’s EU summit. They are now on 32 per cent, five points up on their tally three weeks ago. Optimism was mounting in No 10 last night that MPs will back the agreement. A source said: ‘It is incredibly close, but it is doable.’

However the situation became even more tense when Sir Oliver tabled a plan to force Mr Johnson to seek another delay to Brexit.  

Today’s poll shows that a total of 47 per cent of people say they support the Prime Minister’s Brexit deal, while 38 per cent say they are against it.

Voters were also in no doubt as to who blinked first in the EU talks – with 52 per cent saying the UK gave most ground. Only 20 per cent think Brussels backed down. A total of 47 per cent believe Mr Johnson’s plan should go to a referendum, compared with 44 against the idea.

When voters are given a straight choice between the Prime Minister’s deal and remaining in the EU there is a dead heat, with both sides winning 50 per cent.

Remarkably, 29 per cent of Labour voters say they would back Mr Johnson’s deal in such a referendum; 71 per cent say they would not back his deal.

But a different picture emerges if, as argued by Brexiteers, voters are given a third option of leaving with No Deal. 

Remain gets most support, 45 per cent, based on first preferences – though no option gets over the 50 per cent winning line. The poll showed that most of the extra backing for the Tories was at the expense of Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party, whose support has fallen by 3 per cent.

The results of the survey heap more humiliation on beleaguered Mr Corbyn. One in five of his own Labour voters would rather see Mr Johnson in Downing Street. Millions of Labour supporters have written off his chances of ever seizing power.

Asked who they thought will win the next election, just 31 per cent of Labour voters think Mr Corbyn: exactly the same number, 31 per cent, say Mr Johnson will beat him.

If Mr Johnson delivers his pledge to leave the EU by October 31, he can expect a further surge in his ratings. A total of 33 per cent say they will be more likely to vote Conservative; 23 per cent say they will be less likely to do so.