UK government fails in bid to call election for 15 October – as it happened

5 Sept 201919.57 EDT

Summary

Jedidajah Otte

I will be wrapping up now, as most commentators and MP’s have retreated to their boudoirs it seems, in preparation for tomorrow’s Brexit questions in the Commons, kicking off at 09.30am.

Here a short summary of what happened tonight:

• Boris Johnson has lost another big Commons vote as MPs blocked his bid to trigger a general election.
• It is not clear yet under what circumstances and at what time Labour will back a general election. Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said that the people want to wait and see what deal Johnson brings back from Brussels. Other Labour MP’s have echoed this view.
• The Benn bill, designed to outlaw a no deal Brexit, passed its second and third reading with ease in the Commons.
• The House of Lords is still voting on amendments to a business motion tabled by Labour that aims to get the Benn bill through all stages before parliament is prorogued.
• About 10 of the Tory MPs who had their whip withdrawn after they rebelled against the government last night have threatened legal action and announced they plan to stand again for the Conservatives.
• Three Conservative MPs have announced they are standing down at the next general election: the pro-Remain former defence secretary Michael Fallon, Caroline Spelman, who rebelled against the Tory whip tonight, and Nicholas Soames, who is standing down as an MP after 37 years – after he was expelled from the Conservative party for voting against the government.

This tweet from Jess Phillips will sum this day up for many MPs, reporters, pundits and onlookers:

And on this note, goodnight.

This from the Birmingham Post’s Jonathan Walker:

This from ITV’s Alastair Stewart:

And here my colleagues Heather Stewart, Jessica Elgot and Peter Walker have written up what went down in the Commons tonight.

By the way, here is a handy overview of how each MP voted tonight:

The House of Lords is still bogged down in voting on amendments.

This from the LibDem peer Paul Strasburger:

And this from parliamentary researcher Robbie Lammas:

Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, is said to have advised European diplomats that the negotiations with the British government are in a state of paralysis - in stark contrast to claims by the PM and his circle that progress is being made.

He also said that Britain seemed intent on reducing the level of ambition in the political declaration that will frame the next stage of the negotiations.

According to BBC Europe editor Katya Adler, the statement was leading EU leaders to think Mr Johnson “cannot have a solution up his sleeve - despite all the rhetoric”.

The Conservative MP and former cabinet minister Sir Michael Fallon, who supported Remain in the referendum, has announced a little while ago that he is standing down as a Tory MP at the next general election, after 31 years or service. Fallon was forced to resign as defence secretary in 2017 after a series of sexual harassment allegations.

In a letter, he thanked his Sevenoaks constituents and said he and his wife would continue to live locally.

Salma Shah, a former adviser to Sajid Javid, tells Peston that she believes it’s still possible that it all works out for the PM in the end, and that he is trying to unite the leave votes with his current course.

Grieve says May lost an opportunity in January to put her rejected Brexit deal to the people in a referendum. He says he’s getting “irritated” by politicians who only aim to further their own career interests.

McDonnell’s comments about the timing of a general election are at odds with those of Jeremy Corbyn.

This from Sky’s Beth Rigby:

This, however, from the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, makes it look as if Corbyn is aligned with his McDonnell:

McDonnell tells Peston now that Labour wants the electorate to have a “proper choice” when they go to the polls, and says this would be the case after the PM has met with the EU council and has come back with a deal or nothing.

He says the problem is that the Fixed Parliament Act does not provide an option for MPs to set a binding date for a general election, but that that’s precisely what parliament is now trying to achieve.

“We will offer the people the final say,” he says.

Lots of MP’s are insisting that Boris Johnson cannot be trusted tonight. Here Labour MP Lisa Nandy on BBC Newsnight. “If I’ve learnt one thing about Boris Johnson over the last few months, it’s that you can’t trust a word he says.”

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell is now on Peston. He says once there is legislative security around no deal being outlawed, Labour will look at a date for a general election.

He says party members are being consulted on the best time for a general election. He says he “desperately” wants one, but that the PM can’t be trusted. He says that he believes a deal can still be done.

This from ITV’s Joe Pike:

Is Boris Johnson confident that he’ll get his general election before the EU council meeting? Is he going to be “a permanent lame duck?”, asks Peston.

“I think the position by the Labour party, to be so consumed by cowardice as to resist a general election, is not politically sustainable,” the PM responds.

The PM told Peston earlier that “it’s been a very good day”, before starting to list several areas his government is intending to invest in, such as schools, police and social care.

He said tonight’s events effectively wrote the letter to the EU asking for another extension for him.

Like earlier in the Commons, he uses the word “sad” again to describe the situation.

Peston asks if he really will expel Tory MPs who might vote against his deal with Brussels, like the PM said he would yesterday.

Johnson repeats his “what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander” line, but is otherwise pretty evasive.

Peston has just started, where Jess Phillips and Dominic Grieve currently discuss the punishment of the 21 Tory rebels who defied the government whip yesterday.

Grieve, introduced to the audience as a “Former Conservative” tonight, says it’ll depend on when the next election is and on the circumstances whether he will run or not.

Phillips repeats she wouldn’t trust Johnson on anything, and that she believes he will try and force no deal.

This from Metro’s Joel Taylor:

Anna Soubry is one of many MPs that are outraged by the treatment of the Conservative rebels.