British parliament speaker under fire for preventing Brexit vote
John Bercow, the speaker of the House of Commons, said the government was trying to present a motion that is "in substance the same" as the one lawmakers considered on Saturday.
"My ruling is therefore that the matter will not be debated [again] today," Bercow said.
Pro-Brexit Conservative Bernard Jenkin was among several lawmakers who questioned Bercow's impartiality, accusing him of bias against the government.
Jenkin told Bercow he would be part of a parliamentary committee examining "the role of the speaker."
Bercow insisted he had made a "principled judgement" based on established parliamentary procedure.
Johnson had attempted to ignore the furore over his sending of a controversial request to Brussels to delay Brexit, vowing to hold the vote on his deal on Monday despite lawmakers backing an amendment to the deal on Saturday.
He sent an unsigned pro-forma letter later Saturday asking EU leaders to extend the Brexit deadline, accompanied by a signed letter explaining that he does not want a delay.
Speaking in parliament on Monday, Scottish National Party lawmaker Ian Blackford accused Johnson of "childish games."
His conduct "lacks dignity, lacks respect... [and] is not becoming of any prime minister," Blackford said.
He said the leaders of the Scottish and Welsh devolved governments sent to a letter on Monday to European Council President Donald Tusk, asking him to delay Brexit to allow time for parliamentary scrutiny of the Brexit deal and for a second referendum.
In Edinburgh, meanwhile, a Scottish court began considering whether Johnson's action complies with the new law that obliged him to seek an extension.
The Court of Session appeared to accept that Johnson had acted lawfully by requesting the delay, but it rejected a government request to end the case.
The court said it wants to wait for Brussels to agree to the delay and, if it does, for the government's response, according to tweets written and retweeted by lawyer Jo Maugham, who is acting for the plaintiffs.
Spokesman Jaume Duch said the European Parliament will not vote on ratifying the Brexit withdrawal agreement until British lawmakers have done so.
"The parliament will never be the guilty guy" when it comes to tripping up the process to ratify the deal, Duch said in Strasbourg.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said a brief extension of the Brexit deadline remains a possibility, if the British parliament approves Johnson's deal.
"I would not rule out the possibility of a brief technical extension, if there are problems in Britain with the steps to ratification," Maas said in Berlin.
He declined to take a position on how things would proceed if the deal reached with Johnson's government is rejected by the parliament, but did not rule out a further extension of the October 31 deadline in this event.
