Brexit march London - live: People's Vote protesters cheer as MPs force Boris Johnson to ask EU for extension

"The parliament of indecision has decided nothing again. It voted today to delay the vote on Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal until after he has got the legislation to implement it through parliament," writes John Rentoul, our chief political commentator.

"If you are Oliver Letwin, the temporarily ex-Tory who proposed the crucial amendment, this is entirely sensible. He does not want Britain to find itself leaving the EU on 31 October without the laws in place to manage it – that would, indeed, be a disorderly Brexit.

"But to most people it must look as if parliament doesn’t know what it is doing. We still do not know, three years after the referendum, whether Britain will leave the EU or not. All we know is that it wasn’t decided today, just as it wasn’t decided on any of the great parliamentary moments in January and March. Each meaningful vote turned out not to be."

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Away from Westminster, a group of Liberal Democrats have apparently "gatecrashed" a rally for Jeremy Corbyn in Liverpool.

Activists have placed a mobile billboard near the Grand Central Hall where the rally is being held reading "You can't stop Tory Brexit with Labour Brexit. Only Lib Dems will stop Brexit."

Nick Boles, the former Conservative MP who no sits as an independent, appears deeply unhappy with Boris Johnson's backers.

"I have willingly, without being asked, offered to vote for a deal I don’t like, negotiated by a PM for whom I have zero respect," he tweeted on Saturday.

"Yet his supporters in Parliament and the media spend their whole time hurling accusations of betrayal at me and others like me. How should we respond?"

"One of the many lies to have gained credibility through repetition is that Britain “overwhelmingly” voted for Brexit in 2016. Less frequently do we hear that a majority of women voted to Remain, with 67 per cent of young women and 55 per cent between the ages of 35 and 54 voting to stay in the EU. The refrain “will of the people” turns out to be 'will of the men'," argues Labour MP Tulip Siddiq, in an opinion column.

"Britain has endured nine years of austerity since 2010 and women have been hit hardest, with only 20 per cent of the public spending cuts falling on men. Brexit will only make the situation worse. Whether we end up with Boris Johnson’s deal or a catastrophic no-deal scenario, the UK will end up with a smaller, weaker economy. This, in turn, will provide yet another excuse for spending cuts.

"A no-deal Brexit would undoubtedly be the worst outcome for Britain, leaving us with a weaker pound and higher prices for those products we can still access. The fact that ministers are seriously contemplating food shortages as an acceptable price to pay shows just how unhinged the pursuit of “Brexit at any price” has become." 

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Mark Rutte, prime minister of the Netherlands, has also spoken to Boris Johnson this evening.

"I wish him success with the following steps in the British House of Commons. We have agreed to stay in close contact," he said, in a tweet posted on Saturday evening.

BREAKING: PM sends EU unsigned request for Brexit delay

Boris Johnson has reportedly sent the EU an unsigned photocopy of a request for a Brexit extension from MPs stressing it is "Parliament's letter" and not his.

European Council president Donald Tusk has confirmed he has received the extension request.

He said on Twitter: "The extension request has just arrived. I will now start consulting EU leaders on how to react."

The prime minister has also sent a second letter to EU officials, setting out why he believes seeking a further Brexit extension is a mistake.

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That's it for The Independent's coverage of a dramatic day in Westminster, in which MPs convened for a rare Saturday sitting and forced Boris Johnson to seek a Brexit delay from the EU.

Check back again tomorrow, when we will be bringing you call the latest Brexit news.