Summary
In the first Saturday sitting of Parliament since the Falklands conflict, when Britain went to war four decades ago, parliamentarians voted by 322 to 306 to withhold support for Johnson's Brexit deal, forcing the prime minister to write to the European Union and ask for an extension to British membership of the trading bloc -- for a third time -- until Parliament agrees to leave.
The letter, a legal requirement imposed on the prime minister by the U.K. courts last month, was duly sent to Brussels late Saturday night, but Johnson refused to sign it. He then telephoned EU leaders to ask them to ignore Parliament's request for more time, sharply increasing the likelihood that Britain will crash out of the EU without a trade deal at the end of this month.
The German government also hinted that if Parliament cannot vote for the latest deal, then Britain should leave the EU without one.
Johnson still hopes to get his deal through Parliament later Monday, or in the coming week, thus enabling Britain to stick to its Oct. 31 deadline to leave the EU.
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