MPs reject attempt to seize control of Commons agenda in latest attempt to prevent no-deal Brexit
Sajid Javid brands Boris Johnson 'yesterday's man' as rivals launch leadership bids
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Your support makes all the difference.Labour has lost an attempt to block the possibility of any new prime minister forcing through a no-deal Brexit against MPs' wishes.
It came as Sajid Javid had a pointed dig at Boris Johnson as they launched rival Tory leadership campaigns, saying the former foreign secretary was "yesterday's news".
The home secretary positioned himself as a "new kind of leader", after Mr Johnson had pledged to end the Brexit "disillusion and despair" by taking the UK out of the EU on 31 October with or without a deal.
A shock poll suggested the Tory front-runner would win a general election landslide as prime minister.
The ComRes survey for the Daily Telegraph – which pays the former foreign secretary £275,000 for a weekly column – said Mr Johnson’s Tories would win 37 per cent of the vote, which the paper claimed would translate to a 140-seat majority following analysis by the Electoral Calculus website.
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MPs are making a cross-party bid on Wednesday to seize control of the Commons agenda to prevent the next Tory prime minister forcing through a no-deal Brexit, writes Andrew Woodcock.
The binding motion, tabled by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and backed by senior figures including Tory grandee Sir Oliver Letwin and Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable, would see MPs hijack the parliamentary timetable on 25 June, allowing them to introduce legislation to rule out no deal and bar a PM from using prorogation – the suspension of parliament.
Their intervention comes as the frontrunner, Boris Johnson, in the Tory leadership race renews his pledge to take the UK out of the EU by 31 October with or without a deal.
Questions are being raised about a Daily Telegraph poll suggesting the Tories would win a general election landslide under Boris Johnson.
Mike Smithson, of politicalbetting.com, raised a prior ComRes poll that claimed to show a massive Conservative lead ahead of the last election in 2017 - in which Theresa May in fact lost her majority.
Chris Terry, formerly of the Electoral Reform Society, tweeted that "polling on hypotheticals is bad".
Jenny Chapman, the shadow Brexit minister, has called today's vote on blocking a no-deal Brexit is a "safety valve" aimed at Tory leadership contenders pledging to freeze MPs out of the decision.
The Labour MP told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "This is about that safety valve, that lock in the process, so that somebody who may find themselves elected a leader of the Tory party on a promise of, in Dominic Raab's case, proroguing Parliament, and locking Parliament out of this process - they can't do that.
"They would have to come back to parliament and get the consent of MPs."
Boris Johnson is to launch his leadership campaign at 11am. He has kept out of the spotlight recently despite the publicity storm surrounding him.
He's expected to face questions over his past cocaine use, following the Gove revelations.
It will not be possible for parliament or the speaker to block a no-deal Brexit if the government is determined to deliver it, Andrea Leadsom has said, writes Andrew Woodcock.
In a swipe at Tory leadership rivals such as Jeremy Hunt and Rory Stewart, who argue that MPs will not permit EU withdrawal without an agreement, Ms Leadsom said: “You can’t block no deal. You can’t put into law that you can’t leave without a deal.”
She insisted that, as prime minister, she would be ready to drop her own Brexit bills in order to stop MPs using them as a means to delay departure.
Another pollster has cast doubt on the Telegraph's poll suggesting its star columnist might win a landslide in a general election. Joe Twyman is formerly of YouGov.
He says the unknown quantity represented by the Brexit Party makes things complicated.
Tory leadership candidates are to make their case for being the next PM at a meeting of the 1922 Committee this afternoon, from about 4.15pm.
M'colleague Tom Batchelor has examined Boris Johnson's past statements about drug use.
Michael Gove's leadership bid has been overshadowed by his admission of taking cocaine in the past.
What will Mr Johnson's admissions mean for his campaign?
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