so hes a coward as well as a s***house then?

Parliament forcing the PM to do something he didn't want to do. I can't imagine any politician being happy or gracious with that scenario.

Your description is how the government want you to see it, but it isn't true. The PM and government cannot act unlawfully. The Benn Act is the law, and not simply Parliament forcing the PM to do something. This is another episode in the "who is supreme" battle and it's one which Parliament MUST win or our whole system is challenged and down that road lie some very dark places. PMs are not just "any politician". They lead the country and are supposed to do so lawfully and with dignity. Johnson looks like a 5 year old throwing his toys out of his pram because he cannot get his own way. How do you think that looks to the rest of the world/

I said yesterday my feeling was that the EU would sit on the letter and the papers seem to agree. The EU actually wants this deal so they are going to give Boris as much time as possible to get it over the line. Besides there is always the possibility that one of the countries e.g. France has had enough so better to be passive for now and hope the problem goes away.

They won't rush because they have no need to. They will await developments but the signs are that if it comes to the wire they would agree to an extension to avoid a no deal.

The Remainers will complain about how he has done it (unsigned) but I doubt a court will want to take it any further. Last night Donald Tusk acknowledged receipt of the letter and confirmed he understands the request for an extension. When all is said and done that's all the Benn act is about the rest is politics.

That might prove to be true. If legal receipt is acknowledged then the only relevance will be the childish behaviour. The Letwin amendment is what now matters.

On Monday Boris will try to bring his motion again assuming that Bercow allows him. The real surprise for me was the margin of defeat I thought it would be much closer. Boris has his hands full the number of Labour rebels was a lot smaller than predicted and the DUP are holding firm.

I think it will pass, probably after a short extension to enable Parliament to fully scrutinise and amend it. The purpose of the amendments will be to ensure Parliament have sufficient opportunities to be involved at every stage of the detailed negotiations and hold the government's feet to the fire if the fail to keep any of their promises, with extension periods written into it should the negotiations overrun, thus avoiding any possibility of deliberate attempts at another "no deal" crash out. There will almost certainly be an attempt to require the final approval of the people via a confirmatory referendum. I think that will fail but become a major plank in the manifestos of the opposition parties at the forthcoming GE.

Still all to play for.

It is, and for some years yet to come.

Andrew Pearce reckons Boris has the votes I am not sure how he arrived at that conclusion but certainly a number of MPS who voted for Letwin have since said they will vote for the deal.

This all comes down to whether Bercow will allow the motion to be put. A fair minded speaker would acknowledge that the government never actually put their motion to the house and so would allow it, a fair minded speaker that is.

Parliament has an odd way of working yesterday the government wanted the house to vote on a motion Letwin effectively said no you don't want to vote on that vote on this one instead.

PLCs have shareholder meetings all the time. The board puts a motion to award the directors a massive bonus. Rebel shareholders put down a motion to sack the board both motions are voted on. That seems a fairer way of doing it rather than changing somebody else's motion. Yet Another reason to review how Parliament works in its arcane ways.

Edited by Badger11 (20 Oct 2019 9.27am)

The Letwin amendment is now attached and it's requirements must be honoured. That won't stop the bill being debated but Parliamentary approval cannot be given until the withdrawal bill has been passed.

How the speaker decides to handle this has nothing to do with "fairness", but just practicality.

The problem might arise because the same bill cannot be presented 3 times so then timing becomes an important consideration. I am not though very sure about that.

NOT a dishonorable Government but the Speaker definitely is. The voice and vote of the 17.4M must be heard and acted upon.
Keep at it Boris!

When you have a Remain voting and totally biased Speaker in John Bercow the chances of him allowing anything to do with getting the Johnson agreement voted on is akin to finding Rocking Horse s—t.
As I have said previously, everything is against Johnson and shouldn’t be. Keep at it Boris!

The Letwin amendment is now attached and it's requirements must be honoured. That won't stop the bill being debated but Parliamentary approval cannot be given until the withdrawal bill has been passed.

How the speaker decides to handle this has nothing to do with "fairness", but just practicality.

The problem might arise because the same bill cannot be presented 3 times so then timing becomes an important consideration. I am not though very sure about that.

The Speaker is just the Speaker. He has rules and conventions to follow. That he defends Parliament's rights against a government trying to railroad it's plans through is exactly what ANY Speaker would do. Unless he is, of course, a stool pigeon of the government.

That was totally denied by Letwin himself this morning on the Marr show in a fashion that carried total conviction.