Will there be an election before 31 October?

It now looks very unlikely. The government has tabled another motion under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act (FTPA) calling for an early election. MPs will vote on this on Monday, but the opposition parties have agreed not to support it, so it will not receive the backing of the two-thirds of MPs needed to pass it.

The government could attempt to pass a one-line amendment to the act, setting an election date, but that option is not so appealing because it could be amended by rebel MPs.

It now looks likely Johnson will go ahead and prorogue parliament, perhaps as soon as the end of Monday’s session. MPs are not then due to return to Westminster until 14 October, when the government plans to hold a Queen’s speech setting out its domestic priorities.

These are usually debated for about six days. Even if the government loses a vote on the Queen’s speech, it is not formally considered a matter of no confidence under the FTPA – though it would be a crystal clear signal that Johnson has no majority in parliament and Labour could be tempted to table a motion of no confidence.

Could Britain still leave the EU with a deal?

Yes: Amber Rudd said the government’s lack of seriousness about trying to renegotiate a Brexit deal was one reason for her resignation. But with no deal looking impossible without an epic constitutional bustup, winning a deal that could get through parliament now looks like the most straightforward way out of the mire for Johnson.

Whether or not he is serious about achieving that is a matter of debate, but almost all of the Tory rebels would vote for a deal – and indeed have already done so before. A cohort of Labour MPs who do not want Brexit to be stopped would be likely to join them.

Johnson will be in Dublin on Monday meeting Leo Varadkar in an attempt to find some common ground on the Irish border. He has already suggested an all-Ireland agrifood zone and there is some speculation at Westminster that the ultimate plan could be something like an Ireland-only backstop.

That was rejected by Theresa May because of the Democratic Unionist party’s vehement objections, but if it opened to the way to the looser, free-trade deal-style future relationship he wants, would Johnson be willing to throw his confidence-and-supply partners overboard? Even with their support, he has no majority now anyway.

Can Johnson just ignore parliament if he fails to get a new Brexit deal?

The bill passed last week by the rebel alliance mandates the prime minister to write to fellow EU leaders and request an extension to the article 50 period if he has not either passed a deal in parliament or won a majority vote for a no-deal Brexit by 19 October.

He has repeatedly said he will not request a delay under any circumstances but cabinet ministers have also insisted he will obey the law. It is unclear whether Downing Street believes there is some wriggle room in the way the legislation has been drafted that gives the government a get-out or whether there is an intention to contest the issue through the courts.

The rebels believe they have allowed sufficient time, if necessary, to challenge the government all the way to the supreme court, as Gina Miller did over allowing MPs a vote on triggering article 50.

Johnson and his strategists believe that while such a move would provoke outrage, it will allow him to portray Jeremy Corbyn as part of a remainer establishment, plotting to overturn the result of the referendum.

When will there be a general election?

Soon: John McDonnell repeated on Sunday that Labour was keen to go to the polls once a no-deal Brexit was “off the table”.

Corbyn and his close advisers would have been happy to sign up for an election immediately once the backbench bill receives royal assent – expected to happen on Monday – and that was what the Labour leader said in parliament last week. But that position shifted under pressure from Keir Starmer and many Labour backbenchers, who wanted to see the extension to article 50 secured first.

An election could come about either because Corbyn tables a vote of no confidence and Johnson loses it, or because after a delay is secured, the government makes another attempt to trigger a poll and the opposition parties back it.

If Johnson lost a confidence vote, Corbyn would have 14 parliamentary sitting days to try to assemble an alternative majority. He has suggested he would seek to lead a time-limited caretaker government to prevent no deal and then call an election, though the Liberal Democrat leader, Jo Swinson, has suggested a more neutral backbench figure would be a better temporary leader.