Johnson says he will pull Brexit deal if MPs don’t back his plans

Boris Johnson has threatened to pull his Brexit deal and call for an early general election if MPs do not vote for his plans as he kicked off a commons showdown.

Two crucial votes on Tuesday evening will determine whether the prime minister will be able to live up to his “do or die” commitment to take the UK out of the European Union by the 31 October deadline.

MPs will cast their initial vote on the PM’s Withdrawal Agreement bill (WAB) before being asked to back his accelerated timetable to hurry the legislation through parliament.

But the PM told the commons that he would “in no way allow months more of this” as he called on MPs to work “night and day” to scrutinise his plans and avoid a no-deal departure.

“If parliament refuses to allow Brexit to happen and instead… decides to delay everything until January or possibly longer in no circumstances can the government continue with this,” he said.

“And with great regret I must say that the bill will have to be pulled and we will have to go forward to a general election.”

The threat was dismissed as “childish blackmail” by Liberal Democrat Brexit spokesperson Tom Brake.

“MPs shouldn’t be bullied into voting in favour of this ridiculously short timetable,” he added.