Boris Johnson has refused to negotiate Brexit delay with Brussels, despite a humiliating defeat in the House of Commons.
He spoke to MPs after the ‘Letwin amendment” passed by 322 votes to 306 – a majority of 16 votes.
MPs voted in favour of an amendment which to withhold approval of the deal until the legislation to enact it was safely passed.
The move automatically triggers the “Benn Act”, and should force the prime minister to request a further postponement of Brexit until 31 January.
It came as MPs sat in the Commons for the first time in 35 years to chew over the deal Mr Johnson brought back from Brussels on Thursday.
Johnson said: “Alas the opportunity to have a Meaningful Vote has effectively been passed up because the Meaningful Vote has been voided of meaning.”
He said he was “not daunted by the result.”
“I continue to be in the very strong belief that the best thing for the UK and the whole of Europe is to leave with this new deal on October 31,” he said.
“I will not negotiate a delay with the EU and neither does the law compel me to do so.
“I will tell our colleagues in the EU the same thing I’ve told everyone else in the 88 days I’ve been PM – that further delay would be bad for the country and bad for democracy.”
Immediately after Mr Johnson’s statement in the House of Commons his official spokesman was repeatedly asked if Mr Johnson was intending to send his letter, if not why and on what legal basis the government would defy the Benn Act.
His spokesman answered: “We have nothing to add to the Prime Minister’s statement.”
Jeremy Corbyn accused the PM of blackmailing MPs and threatening to defy the law.
He said: “The PM must comply with the law. He can no longer blackmail members with a no-deal crash out as the only alternative to his sell-out deal.
“Today is a historic day for parliament because it said it will not be blackmailed by a PM who it seems is prepared to defy a law.”
Mr Johnson carefully avoided saying he wouldn’t send the legal letter asking for a delay – rather than he wouldn’t negotiate a delay.
Asking for a delay and negotiating one are two different things – and the letter of the law states PM is only forced to ask, not negotiate. “I’m absolutely certain he will comply with the law,” said Sir Oliver.
Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson added the Commons sitting should be briefly suspended so the Prime Minister could “go and send his letter” while MPs wait.
Naomi Smith, CEO of anti-Brexit group Best for Britain said: “The success of this amendment shows that MPs do not trust Boris Johnson not to run the country off a No-Deal cliff-edge a year down the line.
“The Prime Minister tried to bounce MPs into quickly nodding through a deal which makes Theresa May’s botched effort look good.
“It’s another humiliation for the Prime Minister who can’t win a parliamentary vote.
“He must now do what is right for the country by requesting an extension from the EU, and averting the crisis he created through his last minute renegotiation.”
Closing the debate, Michael Gove said that as democrats, MPs should back leaving the EU with a deal.
Mr Gove, the cabinet minister with the responsibility for no-deal preparations, said: “I know that deciding how to vote today for many members will have been difficult and it is important for us to recognise that for those who argued to Remain, and still argue that that is the best outcome, they do so as patriots but they take a different view from some of us.”
He added: “What unites us in this House is that we are democrats. And we voted in this House of Commons to have a referendum, we voted in this House of Commons to say that we would respect the verdict of the people.
“We voted overwhelmingly for Article 50 which honoured that referendum and said that we would leave. How would it look to those who send us here now if we say to them we made those sacred promises but now we chose to dishonour them?”
