Brexit showdown as Parliament returns from recess

When Parliament sits on Tuesday it will be under the almost audible ticking of a stopwatch.

Opposition lawmakers will have just a handful of days to pass legislation preventing a no-deal Brexit before Parliament shuts up shop until October 14.

All of this sets up an epic clash between Johnson's supporters and critics.

It could shake out a number of ways. But first up, opposition lawmakers will need to wrest control of the day's agenda, calling for an emergency debate -- also known as a Standing Order 24 or SO24.

But it'll be up to House of Commons Speaker John Bercow -- a larger-than-life character in British politics -- whether or not to grant an emergency debate. Given Bercow's sympathetic view of himself as a champion of dissident voices in Parliament, it seems likely he will allow it.

Assuming lawmakers succeed in calling that debate, they'll need to quickly push through a bill blocking a no-deal Brexit within days. The text of that bill, which is expected to be backed by a group of opposition and rebel Conservative lawmakers, was published Monday night.

The law would force Johnson to seek an extension to the Brexit process until January 2020 if he failed to agree a new deal with the EU at a summit scheduled for mid-October, or to seek Parliament's consent for for a no-deal Brexit.

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