Monday 12 August 2019 9:25 am

Time running out for Remainer MPs to stop no deal Brexit: IfG

EU flags flutter on the day of Britain’s newly elected prime minister Boris Johnson’s debut in the House of Commons, outside the Houses of Parliament in central London on July 25, 2019. – Britain’s new Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday called the current Brexit deal negotiated with the EU “unacceptable” and set preparations for leaving the bloc without an agreement as a “top priority” for the government. (Photo by Niklas HALLE’N / AFP) (Photo credit should read NIKLAS HALLE’N/AFP/Getty Images)

There is little chance of Remainer MPs blocking a no-deal Brexit before the Halloween deadline, a new report has found.

With parliament still on summer recess, there will be less than two months for politicians to thwart Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plan to leave the EU “do or die” by 31 October. A new paper by the Institute for Government argues there are “far fewer opportunities” to extend the Article 50 process than there were in the run up to the last deadline in March earlier this year.

As a result, while it will be possible for MPs to “express opposition to no deal” there is little they will be able to do to prevent it, the report argues.

There will be “very few opportunities” to stop it through legislation and little time for a General Election, while a vote of no confidence may not stop no deal by the deadline, which is now the legal default.

A second referendum is even more unlikely, given that it would require government support.

Joe Owen, Brexit programme director, said: “MPs looking to force the Government into a change of approach face a huge challenge when Parliament returns. Even if they can assemble a majority for something, they may find few opportunities to make their move – and time is running out.”