Labour MP Jim Fitzpatrick has said he intends to vote for the principles of Boris Johnson’s Brexit bill – despite not having read it yet.
MPs will be asked to endorse the second reading of the governments Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB) at 7pm on Tuesday evening.
The legislation writes into UK law the deal agreed between the prime minister and the EU.
The 110-page bill accompanied by 124 pages of explanatory notes was published by the government at 7.30pm on Monday evening.
While the vote is expected to be extremely close, the government is hoping it will pass with the help of a some opposition MPs.
Jeremy Corbyn is opposed to the prime minister’s deal and Labour MPs will be expected to vote against it.
Fitzpatrick, the MP for the London seat of Poplar and Limehouse, appeared on . the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire programme at 11am this morning to explain why he was voting with the government.
But pressed on whether he had read the bill, Fitzpatrick admitted he had not and it was his “hope” he would have done by the vote this evening.
Victoria Derbyshire: Have you managed to read it? Genuine question.
Jim Fitzpatrick: No.
VD: Have you tried?
JF: No.
VD: You haven’t tried to read any of this?
JF: Not yet, no.
VD: Or the explanatory notes?
JF: No.
VD: Or the impact assessment?
JF: No
Fitzpatrick argued parliament had been discussing the detail of a Brexit deal for the last eleven months. “At some point we need to make a decision. Today is decision time,” he said.
“I will make a decision on the basis of judgement, which in my view is we need to move forward on Brexit because we have had this for three-and-a-half years,” he added.
If the government wins the vote on the second reading of the WAB - MPs will then vote on whether to allow the government to push the bill through parliament in just three days.