A pro-Brexit protester carries signs outside the Houses of Parliament in London, Britain, September 4, 2019. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
September 5, 2019
LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government abandoned attempts to block a law aimed at stopping at the country leaving the European Union without a deal in the upper house of parliament.
The move paves the way for Johnson to ask the EU for a three-month extension to the Brexit deadline, if he fails to reach a deal with the bloc by the middle of October.
Conservative Party members of the upper house of parliament had tabled a series of amendments in an attempt to run down the clock and prevent the law being passed before parliament is suspended on Monday.
But in the early hours of Thursday, the government in the upper house, known as the House of Lords, announced it was dropping its opposition to the legislation.
(Reporting by Andrew MacAskill; Editing by William Schomberg)