Opposition Leaders Will Meet Today To Plot How To Stop PM’s Potential No-Deal Brexit

Unusually, the Commons is sitting during conference after MPs refused to grant the government the customary recess in the bitter aftermath of the Supreme Court ruling that Johnson’s suspension of parliament was unlawful.

The move could see Tory MPs and ministers forced to abandon their party conference in Manchester and dash back to Westminster if the opposition stage an ambush to seize control of the Commons agenda.

It comes as MPs from the Liberal Democrats, Labour and the Conservative parties, along with an independent, lambasted the behaviour seen recently in House of Commons’ debates.

The parliament was more than usually adversarial last week on its return after its proroguing was deemed unlawful by the Supreme Court.

Amongst the many shouts and taunts that went around the chamber, prime minister Boris Johnson dismissed fears that his use of words such as “traitor” and “betrayal” was dangerous in the current political climate.

In a letter published in The Times on Monday, Lib Dem MP Luciana Berger, Conservative Paul Masterton, Rosie Duffield from the Labour Party and Stephen Lloyd, a former Lib Dem now sitting as an independent, said they felt “sickened” by what happened in parliament.

“MPs screaming at each other across the floor; a prime minister dismissing fears of violence; and MPs fighting back tears sharing stories about vitriolic abuse they and their families have faced,” they wrote.

“Our political system foments this frenzy, entrenching and encouraging overly tribal and partisan behaviour, which threatens our ability to work together.”

Meanwhile, ministers insist they can still get an agreement with the EU which would allow Britain to leave on October 31 with a deal – despite the gloomy noises that have been coming out of Brussels.

Diplomats in the Belgian capital have said they expect the British side finally to table its proposals for resolving the issue of the Northern Ireland backstop once the Tory conference finishes on Wednesday.