Britain - the Brexit drama: UK PM Johnson sends conflicting messages to EU on Brexit delay request

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson sent an unsigned letter to the European Union on Saturday requesting a delay to Brexit but he also sent another message in which he stated he did not want the extension, a government source said.

Johnson was compelled by a law, passed by opponents last month, to ask the bloc for an extension to the current Brexit deadline of Oct. 31 until Jan. 31 after lawmakers thwarted his attempt to pass his EU divorce deal earlier on Saturday.

The government source said Johnson sent a total of three letters to Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council: a photocopy of the text that the law, known as the Benn Act, forced him to write; a cover note from Britain's EU envoy; and a third letter in which he said he did not want an extension.

As Parliament met in London Saturday morning and voted to force a Brexit delay, hundreds of thousands of anti-Brexit protesters marched in the city’s streets demanding citizens be given a second chance at deciding whether to leave the European Union. 

The massive crowds moved through the city towards Parliament in a festive and defiant demonstration of frustration with the country’s impending break with the EU, the New York Times reported. 

 Organizers of the effort told the Times they expected more than a million demonstrators, which would make it one of the largest protests Britain has ever had.

The demonstrators were joined by a host of current and former politicians, as well as celebrities, who addressed the crowd. In his speech, former Conservative deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine said Brexit represents “a creeping paralysis, where yesterday’s nostalgia distorts tomorrow’s opportunities”.

Note EU-Digest: Boris Johnson by politically manuevering in a very devious and undemocratic way, without letting the people have a final say on the agreement he reached with the EU, is taking Britain on a disastrous destructive path, from which they probably will never recover .

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Britain - Brexit: Parliament votes to reject calls to revoke Article 50 and cancel Brexit - by Adam Bienkov

The House of Commons has voted to reject calls to revoke Article 50 and cancel Brexit after more than 5.8 million people signed a petition calling for Britain's exit from the EU to be reversed.

Members of Parliament voted by 184 to 293 against a motion brought forward by the Scottish National Party to make revoking Article 50 the "default" position if the Commons fails to ratify a deal.

May's government responded formally to reject the petition to revoke Article 50 on Tuesday.

The result came after MPs voted on a series of "indicative votes" on Brexit. Other options put to the vote included leaving the EU without a deal, holding a second referendum and remaining in the Customs Union. None commanded a majority.

Note EU-Digest: It looks like Theresa May still wants to force the parlementarians to vote for her deal eventually. Hopefully Parliament will allow a referendum on the  details of the agreement reached between the EU and Britain.  

Read more: Parliament votes to reject calls to revoke Article 50 and cancel Brexit