That seems to be that, then, unless the Government complies, and in a way it serves Theresa May right after her threat to invoke Henry VIII powers to push through Brexit. Remember those? Powers brought in by an English king in 1539 to allow Government by decree and to by-pass Parliamentary procedures?

Here's a query to all Scots: isn't it just grand that English rules made a century and more before the Act of Union are being used to determine Scotland's future?

We'll get to more specific observations below, but the two big takeaways are:

    1. On multiple levels, this blowup was a complete failure of planning by the Government. It was hardly a surprise that Bercow could nix a vote. Yet the Government failed to investigate the matter, pre-sound Bercow, and have contingency plans ready if the Speaker said no.

    2. This opinion by Bercow isn't (or didn't have to be) the disaster it is portrayed as being. But the complete lack of imagination and preparation not only leaves May floundering, but has thrown a big monkey wrench into the planning the EU was no doubt trying to undertake. The spectacle of more floundering, plus having to consider even more options, can't help but further sour the already poor dynamics between Brussels and London. And do not forget, even when the objective stakes are high, interpersonal factors matter and regularly determine outcomes (even though the principals will tell themselves otherwise).

Still hard to see how that even matters. Where were the votes supposed to come from on the third try?

🚨 Theresa May's letter to Donald Tusk requesting Brexit extension 🚨 pic.twitter.com/rApEFUIsxn

— Sebastian Payne (@SebastianEPayne) March 20, 2019

The good reason for an extension is that parliament keeps voting down the agreement and they need to keep voting for a bit until it passes.

Mr Tusk said he believed all 27 other EU members, who must sign off on the extension, would agree but it depended on a "positive" vote in the House of Commons.

Since the House just voted to not extend Brexit we're in the last stages of No Deal Exit.


She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre

The PM's conduct puts parliament's long-term vitality in peril

The constitutional wreckage of her approach is all around us. Her refusal to allow an inch of compromise from her vision means the executive and legislature are daggers drawn. Precedent is going down the drain. Collective responsibility has gone.

The speaker is implicated because of her insistence on bringing the same thing back again and again and showing no regard or even awareness of the precedent which should prevent it.

MPs are considering transforming the standing orders of the Commons to seize control of the order paper. Our constitution is being rewritten before our eyes - and no one really wants it.

Jeremy Corbyn has refused to rule out revoking Article 50 as a last resort in order to stop a no-deal Brexit.

EU27 responds to UK requests in a positive spirit and:
👉 agrees to Art. 50 extension until 22 May if Withdrawal Agreement approved next week
👉 if not agreed next week then extension until 12 April
👉 approves `Strasbourg Agreement'
👉 continues no-deal preparations

— Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) March 21, 2019

○ EU agrees to delay Brexit until 22 May if deal is passed, or to 12 April if it isn't | The Guardian |

○ May's appeal falls flat as EU seizes control of Brexit date

EU leaders moved to seize control of Britain's exit date from the bloc after an unconvincing appeal by Theresa May on Thursday for a three-month Brexit delay. In an address to the leaders described by one source as " 90 minutes of nothing", the prime minister failed to persuade leaders that she had a plan to avoid a no-deal Brexit.

○ LIVE: Three ministers resign as Commons takes control of Brexit process | Sky News |

Sounds like Burt and Steve Brine resigned to vote for Letwin - If thats right means PM has lost another three ministers over Brexit

— Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak) March 25, 2019