MPs preparing for Saturday showdown over Brexit on the day of the People’s Vote march

The People's Vote march making its way through central London (Pic: Yui Mok/PA Wire) - Credit: Yui Mok/PA Wire

MPs preparing for a Saturday sitting in the House of Commons to decide what happens with Brexit, while hundreds of thousands of anti-Brexit protesters are expected to march on Westminster.

Government sources said MPs were expected to be called back to Westminster on October 19 regardless of whether Boris Johnson has been able to secure agreement on a Brexit deal.

The summit in Brussels on October 17 and 18 is the last scheduled meeting of EU leaders before Britain is supposed to leave on October 31.

If the prime minister is able to get an agreement, it will be an opportunity for MPs – who will have to give their approval – to debate it.

Otherwise, Johnson is expected to set out how he plans to take Britain out of the EU at the end of the month regardless.

It comes as the People’s Vote have ramped up publicity for the next march, which includes a new video campaign for social media.

Campaigners will march under the banner of ‘Together for the Final Say’ – and argue that the ‘Will of the People’ is on the move.

“Boris Johnson’s Brexit is not about what’s best for this country, it’s about what’s best for him,” said David Lammy, a supporter of the campaign. “He has surrounded himself with a small, privileged cabal of advisors in Downing Street who are focused on clinging to power at all costs. They have an extreme and ideological vision for our country which would see lower taxes for the rich, lower wages for the poor and lower standards of environmental protection for all. Johnson and the hard-right elite that has taken over the Conservative Party are trying to force a Brexit on us that will leave people and the country poorer.

He continued: “It is little wonder that the will of the people is changing. Confronted with the reality of Boris Johnson’s destructive Brexit, more voters than ever before now say that the only way to solve this mess is to put the question back to the people. That’s why I’ll be marching in London on 19th October. To stand up against a reckless, extreme Brexit, to show that the will of the people is on the move and demand that our voices are heard.”

– Find out more about the People’s Vote march here.