MPs prepare to vote on Johnson's deal

More than three years since the United Kingdom voted 52-48 to be the first sovereign country to leave the European project, Prime Minister Boris Johnson Johnson will try to win parliament's approval for the divorce treaty he struck in Brussels on Thursday (October 17).

In a day of Brexit high drama, lawmakers convene for the first Saturday sitting since the 1982 Argentine invasion of the Falklands, while hundreds of thousands of people march to parliament demanding another referendum.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) BRITISH BREXIT MINISTER, STEPHEN BARCLAY, SAYING:

"I think the vote will be tight today but the prime minister (Boris Johnson) has shown he's listened to MPs on all side of the house. He's addressed the central concern MPs had, which was the back stop, the concern that it would be used be as a veto by the EU and as leverage by them in the future talks. But he's also listened to MPs for example on the Labour side in terms of his commitments on workers rights or, as set out in the Queen's Speech, the environmental standards commitments he's made and having an independent body to review to those in the future. So he has listened, and it is now time for members of parliament to step up to their responsibilities and pass this deal."

Johnson cast the vote in parliament as the last chance to secure an orderly Brexit. Though he is obliged by law to seek a Brexit delay if his deal falls, Johnson said the United Kingdom would still leave on Oct. 31. He didn't explain how.