Battle over Brexit as Johnson urges lawmakers to back deal
Johnson is giving a speech on the Brexit deal to the Commons, parliament's elected main house, which will be followed by a debate and votes on the deal and amendments expected to be tabled by opposition parties.
"Today can be the day we get Brexit done," Johnson wrote earlier in a letter to readers of Saturday's Sun, one of Britain's most popular tabloids.
"In less than two weeks, on October 31, we would be out of the EU. A difficult, divisive and - yes - painful chapter in our history would be at an end," he wrote.
Johnson's Conservatives have no majority in parliament, so he will need the support of some opposition lawmakers and independents in the 650-seat house to win the vote on his deal.
Many Labour, Liberal Democrat and Scottish National Party lawmakers retain hopes of finding a better agreement, forcing another referendum, holding an election before Brexit, or even cancelling Brexit.
But in a boost for Johnson early Saturday, Steve Baker, the chair of the Conservative party's influential European Research Group (ERG) of eurosceptic lawmakers, told the BBC he had advised the group to vote for the deal.
Some pro-EU elements in his party were wary, however. Former chancellor Philip Hammond told the BBC on Saturday that he would back an amendment initiated by another pro-EU former Conservative, Oliver Letwin, to temporarily withhold approval of the deal.
The amendment would mean that Johnson's deal itself could not be approved until the legislation enacting the deal has passed successfully through parliament.
This would force Johnson to ask Brussels to delay Brexit for three months, under an a new act designed to prevent a no-deal exit.
"This cannot be the final vote today because we do not know the full shape of the package," Hammond told the broadcaster.
He said the Letwin amendment provides "an insurance policy that prevents us having to look at this [Bexit] bill against the constant threat of the government to pull the plug and crash us out on October 31."
The outcome of the struggle over Brexit could have a major impact on Britain's economic and political future for at least a decade.
"Brexit has always been about much more than the EU - it's about what kind of country we want to be," tweeted Caroline Lucas, the sole Green Party member of the Commons.
