MPs have voted for a bill which would force Boris Johnson to ask for an extension to the UK’s membership of the European Union.

The Benn-Burt Bill, which passed the first round of votes in the Commons this afternoon, would also make a no-deal Brexit illegal without parliamentary approval.

The Prime Minister is now expected to seek a snap general election in response to MPs backing the bill 329-300.

The vote comes during an extraordinary few days in Parliamentary history. In the last 24 hours, opposition MPs have taken control of the Parliamentary agenda and then forced through a law in almost record-time to force a Prime Minister to do something that goes completely against his policies.

MPs will now debate various amendments to the bill and vote on them at 7pm tonight.

From there, the legislation will go to the House of Lords for approval on Thursday but the debate could stretch on past the weekend.

If the Lords pass any amendments it will then go back to the House of Commons for the green-light before receiving Royal Assent from the Queen to become law.

Johnson says taking no-deal off the table would ‘hand control’ of negotiations to the EU and undermine the UK’s negotiating strategy.

But opponents say crashing out on World Trade Organisation terms would be a ‘disaster for the economy’.

Johnson endured a humiliating defeat in his first parliamentary vote as PM after MPs passed yesterday’s opposition backed motion – allowing today’s bill to be introduced.

He faced a rebellion of pro-remain Tory MPs, 21 of whom have had the whip removed, effectively expelling them from the Conservative Party.

The Tories lost their majority yesterday when MP Philip Lee walked across the chamber and sat with the Liberal Democrats.

Caroline Spellman joined the list of remain-backing rebels following the round of votes at 5pm.

After last night’s motion was passed, Johnson said: ‘I don’t want an election. The public don’t want an election.

‘But if the House votes for this bill tomorrow, the public will have to choose who goes to Brussels on October 17 to sort his out and take this country forward.’

He said if Jeremy Corbyn becomes Prime Minister he would ‘beg for an extension’ from Brussels and will ‘accept whatever Brussels demands and we’ll have years more arguments over Brexit’.

Johnson added: ‘And by contrast, everyone will know that if I am prime minister, I will go to Brussels, I will go for a deal and get a deal but if they won’t do a deal we will leave anyway on 31 October.

‘I don’t want an election, but if MPs vote tomorrow to stop the negotiations and to compel another pointless delay of Brexit, potentially for years, then that will be the only way to resolve this.’

The Labour Party says it is prepared to support Johnson’s call for a general election on October 15 but only once the Benn-Burt bill becomes law.

The bill will give Johnson a mandate to ask the EU to let the UK stay in the bloc until January 31.

That is, unless the UK agrees on a trade deal before then or of Parliament accepts a no-deal by October 19.

Opponents of a no-deal Brexit have had to act quickly, after Johnson announced his plans to prorogue Parliament for five weeks from mid-September.

The Prime Minister insisted it had nothing to do with Brexit and that it was to make way for a Queen’s Speech to introduce a new legislative agenda.

But many people thought it was a way to tie the hands of his political opponents and thousands of people took to the streets across the country to protest.

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