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Brexit: Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn meet after timetable rejected | Brexit: Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn meet after timetable rejected |
(32 minutes later) | |
Boris Johnson has met Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn amid uncertainty over what happens next with Brexit. | Boris Johnson has met Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn amid uncertainty over what happens next with Brexit. |
The meeting comes after MPs rejected the PM's plan to fast-track Brexit legislation through Parliament. | The meeting comes after MPs rejected the PM's plan to fast-track Brexit legislation through Parliament. |
The BBC's Laura Kuenssberg says she understands nothing was agreed. | |
Labour was keen to discuss a different timetable for the Brexit bill, while the PM wanted to know what Mr Corbyn would do if the EU refused to extend the 31 October deadline, she added. | Labour was keen to discuss a different timetable for the Brexit bill, while the PM wanted to know what Mr Corbyn would do if the EU refused to extend the 31 October deadline, she added. |
A Labour Party spokesperson said: "Jeremy Corbyn reiterated Labour's offer to the prime minister to agree a reasonable timetable to debate, scrutinise and amend the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, and restated that Labour will support a general election when the threat of a no-deal crash-out is off the table." | A Labour Party spokesperson said: "Jeremy Corbyn reiterated Labour's offer to the prime minister to agree a reasonable timetable to debate, scrutinise and amend the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, and restated that Labour will support a general election when the threat of a no-deal crash-out is off the table." |
The PM said he would pause the progress of the bill after MPs rejected a plan to pass it in just three days. | |
After that defeat, Mr Corbyn said his party was prepared to work with the government to agree "a reasonable timetable" to scrutinise the Brexit legislation properly. | |
At Prime Minister's Questions, Mr Johnson said it was "remarkable" that MPs backed the Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB) on its first hurdle through the Commons, but a "great shame" the House did not back the timetable for it. | |
They "willed the end but not the means", he said. | |
And Mr Johnson said it was "peculiar" that Mr Corbyn appeared to want him to bring back the bill when Labour MPs were told to vote against it on Tuesday. | |
But the Labour leader said it was Mr Johnson who had "decided to delay his own withdrawal bill" when he made the decision to pause it. | |
General election | |
Meanwhile, EU leaders are considering whether to grant a delay to the Brexit deadline and what length it should be. | |
Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Leo Varadkar has confirmed he supports the proposal to grant the UK's request. | Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Leo Varadkar has confirmed he supports the proposal to grant the UK's request. |
Mr Johnson was forced by law to send a letter to Brussels requesting a three-month extension, and No 10 had indicated he would push for a general election if the EU agreed. | |
However, he cannot simply call one, as prime ministers did before the passage of the 2011 Fixed-term Parliaments Act. | |
Under that act, he would need the backing of Parliament, and opposition MPs have previously ruled out holding one until the possibility of a no-deal Brexit on 31 October was ruled out altogether. | |
Some Conservative MPs say the government should take the Labour Party up on its offer to come up with a timetable for the WAB that satisfies all sides. |