LONDON, Oct 19 (Reuters) - The British government will not
take part in a vote on its Brexit deal on Saturday if lawmakers
back a proposal which seeks to withhold support for a deal until
formal ratification legislation has passed, the BBC's political
editor said.
The proposal, put forward by former Conservative lawmaker
Oliver Letwin, has a strong chance of being accepted, meaning a
subsequent vote on Prime Minister Boris Johnson's deal would no
longer be a so-called "meaningful vote" to approve it.
Instead, Johnson's Downing Street office would tell
Conservative lawmakers they could go home rather than stay to
participate in the vote, and would bring forward the legislation
required to ratify a deal on Monday, the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg
reported.
"No. 10 plans to send MPs home if they vote for Letwin - but
govt will introduce the bill on Monday," Kuenssberg said on
Twitter. She also reported that Johnson would write to the EU to
request an extension to Brexit if the Letwin amendment passed.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge, Writing by Kylie MacLellan;
editing by Michael Holden)