PM denied new Brexit deal vote

LONDON, October 21 

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was dealt a fresh blow on Monday when Parliament Speaker John Bercow denied him a second shot at getting his Brexit deal passed just 10 days before the deadline.

Lawmakers decided at their first Saturday session since the 1982 Falklands War to force the Conservative leader to ask Brussels to postpone the October 31 divorce by three months.

Johnson is trying to secure a break from Brussels that severs many of the island nation's economic relations with Europe after 46 years of EU membership.

But lawmakers refused on Saturday to give their backing to his revised divorce plan until all the domestic legislation needed to ratify it has passed. Johnson's foes are now forging new alliances and trying to attach amendments that could either force him to push for closer trade ties with the EU or abandon the deal and accept a third delay this year. — AFP