Flip-flopping Boris Johnson changes his mind again and will vote for Theresa May's 'bad' Brexit deal

MPs are voting on whether they will accept Theresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement. The PM has described it as their “last opportunity to guarantee Brexit”.

She said: “Today should have been the day the UK left the EU – that we are not leaving today is a matter of deep personal regret to me.

“But I remain committed to the UK leaving the EU and that is why I brought this motion to the House today.

“There are those who will say ‘the House has rejected every option so far, you’ll probably lose so why bother?’ – I bother because this is the last opportunity to guarantee Brexit.

“By voting for this motion today we can send a message to the public and European Union that Britain stands by its word and that we’ll leave the European Union on May 22.”

Last gasp-changes

The vote comes as Boris Johnson changed his mind again and said he would now vote for Mrs May’s Withdrawal Agreement.

The flip-flopping former Foreign Secretary has previously described the deal as dead, a ‘humiliation’, and compared it to a ‘suicide vest’ as well as claiming it would turn Britain into a ‘colony’.

However on Friday morning he took to Twitter to say he would vote for the deal, else Brexit could be lost.

‘It is very painful to vote for this deal,’ he wrote.

‘But I hope we can now work together to remedy its defects, avoid the backstop trap and strive to deliver the Brexit people voted for.’

Johnson added: ‘I have been and remain intensely critical of the deal.

‘But we have a choice to make now, and that means choosing between options that actually exist.

‘I have come to the sad conclusion that neither this government nor this parliament is willing to leave with no deal.’

The vote is taking place on the day Britain was due to leave the European Union.

The Prime Minister has split the legally binding treaty segment of her Brexit deal from the declaration on future relations with the EU in order to ensure MPs could vote on it.

But Mrs May is facing an uphill struggle as key Government allies the DUP joined Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in saying they would vote against the move.

The PM’s decision to present just the Withdrawal Agreement to the Commons means it is not a third attempt to pass a ‘meaningful vote’ on the Government’s Brexit deal and complies with rules laid down by Commons Speaker John Bercow.

Under the terms of an agreement with Brussels, if passed by MPs on Friday the vote would qualify the UK to be granted an automatic delay to May 22 of the formal date of Brexit.

Mrs May’s move allows the Government to present the situation as a choice between a short delay to Brexit and the potential for a much longer one which would mean taking part in European Parliament elections.

But it would not let Parliament go ahead and ratify the withdrawal deal, as Brexit legislation allows this only after the passage of a ‘meaningful vote’ on both the Withdrawal Agreement and a Political Declaration on the future relationship.

DUP Westminster leader Nigel Dodds said his party could not back the Withdrawal Agreement because the Government had failed to win legally binding changes regarding the controversial ‘backstop’ customs arrangements for the Irish border.

Mr Corbyn told the PM in a 20-minute telephone discussion on Thursday that he would not support the move as it represented a ‘blindfold Brexit’.

However, Downing Street is hoping that the move to split off the agreement will win support from Labour backbenchers such as Caroline Flint.

Attorney General Geoffrey Cox told the Commons on Friday that today’s voted was the last chance to secure a ‘legal right’ for Britain to extends Article 50 until May 22.

However his Labour counterpart said the deal was not acceptable.

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