A law that would stop the UK crashing out of the EU without a deal has been given Royal Assent.
House of Lords Speaker Lord Fowler confirmed a bill aimed at blocking a ‘no-deal’Brexiton 31 October has become law after the Queen gave final approval to the legislation.
The step, known as Royal Assent, effectively rubber-stamps the law that was passed through parliament last week by an alliance of cross-party MPs.
Known as the Benn-Bill, it would extend the Brexit deadline until (January) if no deal is agreed with the EU by 19 October.
This means it would be illegal for the UK to leave theEuropean Unionwithout a Brexit deal .
It comes hours before parliament is set to be suspended for five weeks.
MPs face a second vote on a snap general election tonight.
Speaker of the House John Bercowsays he will stand downif MPs vote for a general election.
If they don’t he will stand down by the end of October, when the UK is due to leave the European Union.
What happens next?
This morning, Mr Johnson met with Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar where he said he hoped an agreement could be reached in order to avoid a no-deal Brexit.
But Mr Johnson’s spokesman added: ‘The Prime Minister is not going to seek an extension.
‘If MPs want to resolve this there is an easy way – vote for an election today and let the public decide.’
The PM is expected to return to London after his meeting in Dublin to make another attempt to force a general election on 15 October by asking MPs to support a motion tabled under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act.
He failed in his bid to call a snap election last week as opposition parties said they wanted to ensure that no-deal is definitely off the table before they go to the country for a vote.
Today, opposition leaders once again agreed not to back Mr Johnson’s bid to secure an election, Labor said.
The PM has been warned that he could face jail if he refuses to obey the law on Brexit.
This is a breaking news story. More on this to follow.
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