United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson has hit the pause button on his Brexit legislation after Members of Parliament (MPs) rejected his plan to get it through the Commons in three days.
MPs backed his Withdrawal Agreement Bill – but minutes later voted against the timetable, leaving it "in limbo".
In the House of Commons on Tuesday evening, lawmakers passed Johnson's new Brexit deal by a vote of 329 to 299. However, less than an hour later they voted, 322 to 308, against Johnson's demand that lawmakers take only three days to read, scrutinise and amend the 110-page legislation.
After the vote, EU Council president Donald Tusk said he would recommend EU leaders back an extension to the October 31 Brexit deadline. A UK government source said if a delay was granted, the PM would seek a snap election.
On Saturday, Johnson complied with a law demanding he write to the EU to ask for a three-month extension but did not sign the letter.
A spokesman from the European Commission said, "[The Commission] takes note of tonight's result and expects the UK government to inform us about the next steps."
But Tusk tweeted that he would "recommend the EU27 accept the UK request for an extension" in order to "avoid a no-deal Brexit".
Following Tuesday's Commons vote, a Downing Street source said Parliament "blew its last chance".
They added: "If Parliament's delay is agreed by Brussels, then the only way the country can move on is with an election."
Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Johnson was "the author of his own misfortune".
He told the Commons that MPs had "refused to be bounced into debating a hugely significant piece of legislation in just two days, with barely any notice or an analysis of the economic impact of this bill".
However, Corbyn did offer to enter into discussions over a "sensible" timetable for the PM's deal to go through Parliament.