BORIS Johnson faces the fight of his life today to keep his Brexit plans on track.
It’s still possible to leave the EU by October 31 as the PM has repeatedly promised, but he faces several major hurdles first.
Boris’ route to leaving on October 31 all hinges on today.
He has to pass two crunch votes tonight – on the second reading of the bill and his timetable motion.
That will attempt to fast-track the agreement through in just three days – something MPs are furious about.
Despite debating Brexit for more than three years, they are arguing it’s not enough time to properly scrutinise the new law.
The PM is up for a knife-edge clash later on the programme motion as the numbers are looking incredibly tight.
If he loses then Boris has said he may pull the vote and go for an election if he’s forced into a three month delay.
However, if the PM succeeds tonight, the fun doesn’t stop there.
The committee stage will start in the House, where he will allow MPs to look at every single line of the 100-page bill.
Boris will then attempt to bat back a series of wrecking amendments from Labour, Lib Dem and SNP MPs.
They will try and force him into watering down his Brexit plans with a second referendum, or a customs union.
Many MPs are also unhappy about the role of Parliament in the next stage of Brexit – trade talks with the EU.
They want a say in what a future deal will look like and the right to vote on it, and are arguing for changes on that too.
If Boris can navigate through all of these issues he will then need the votes of a fragile coalition of Labour, Independent and Tory MPs to rubber stamp it on Thursday night in the bill’s third reading.
No10 believe they do have the numbers to do this, but it will depend if any of the changes manage to worm their way through.
If Boris wins, he will be able to breathe a small sigh of a relief.
The action then zooms over to the House of Lords – which is packed with peers who support remaining in the bloc – who will likely try and change it AGAIN.
Ministers can slap them down up to three times in an obscure Parliamentary process called ping-pong.
If the PM manages to bat them all back (there’s a chance he may be forced to accept some if the Commons wants them) then the Bill will get Royal Assent and Brexit is on track to leave the EU on October 31.
All will be left to do will be for the European Parliament to sign it off.
However, today Guy Verhofstadt said this morning he has some concerns about citizens rights too – and will be looking for assurances before they order MEPs to back it.
Whatever happens today in the Commons, Brexit has a long way to go yet.
