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Boris Johnson Wins, Then Loses, Then Pauses Brexit Bill
Boris Johnson finally scored a victory on Tuesday - only to log another defeat minutes later.
After an extraordinary Saturday sitting which found MPs voting 322 to 306 in favor of an amendment that delayed a vote on the actual Brexit deal Johnson struck last week, lawmakers on Tuesday voted 329 to 299 to approve the basic principles of the divorce agreement.
It marked the first win for the incorrigible Boris, who previously declared he'd rather be "dead in a ditch" than ask Brussels for a dela
This outcome looks pretty positive for Boris. He can now run against Parliment for having “dragged their feet”. The fact that he got his agreement approved allows him to say he did all he could short of breaking the law to get out. He cleverly withdrew the bill before Parliment could ammend it. He also sent the letter per the law to the EU to comply with the Benn Act, but followed up with a letter saying please don’t give us an extension. This he can use to protect himself and the tories from the right wing Brexit party who will accuse him of not getting out by October 31. With a first past the post system in Britain and a divided opposition it looks like Boris may eventually have his cake and eaten it too- he probably does not need a majority of voters to win an outright majority in parliment. The story is not over yet though- many things could yet happen.