Brexit extension announced as Boris Johnson pushes for December election

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UK lawmakers rejected the government’s proposal on Monday, but an early election is nevertheless looking increasingly likely.

Two very similar short bills will be introduced in Parliament in the coming days, both seeking to lock down an early vote: One proposal for a December 12 election, will be laid down by the government. Another proposal for a December 9 election has been announced by the Liberal Democrats and the SNP.

Both are designed to skirt the current election law, which requires a supermajority of two-thirds in Parliament to approve an early election. But like any other legislation, these bills will be subjects to possible amendments, which could pose new political risks.

The UK is heading towards an early election.

The Brexit agreement that Johnson struck with Brussels will not be brought back to the UK Parliament while its members debate an Election Bill, a Downing Street source told CNN.

“Tonight we are laying a one clause motion to amend the [Fixed-Term Parliaments Act] and call an election with the named day of 12 December,” the source said.

The source added the bill is “very similar to the Lib Dems/SNP proposal.”

“This is the way to get?Brexit?done so the country can move on,” the source also said.

The Leader of the Liberal Democrats Jo Swinson said Prime Minister Boris Johnson lost the vote in Parliament because lawmakers don’t trust him.

She called the vote on Monday the “latest attempt to force his bad Brexit bill through.”

She added:

She said Liberal Democrats will continue to campaign to stop Brexit.

The Liberal Democrats have put forward their own plan to force a general election in early December.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced he will try to bypass the supermajority rule which ensured he lost his bid for an early election on Monday by introducing a new piece of legislation that would effectively override the current election law.

A one-line bill, saying something along the lines of “notwithstanding the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act (FTPA), an election will be held on December 12.”

Johnson would only need a simple majority of MPs to pass that law, as opposed to the backing of two thirds of Parliament required by the FTPA.

However, there are two issues with that approach:

Johnson runs the risk that the opposition could team up with Conservative rebels to change the law in ways that could potentially hurt him.

The Government has lost yet another vote in Parliament, with MPs defeating Boris Johnson’s motion calling for an early election.

The government secured 299 votes, while 70 MPs voted against the bill.

To succeed, the Prime Minister needed two thirds of all MPs – 434 in total – to support his call for an early vote, under the Fixed Term Parliaments Act.

UK lawmakers are voting now on whether to hold an early election in December.

A number of opposition MPs have been arguing that they cannot support Boris Johnson’s call for an early election because they can’t trust him.

They are pointing out a number of pledges the Prime Minister has broken in the past, such as saying he wouldn’t call for an early election, or ask the EU for another Brexit extension.

He did all of those things – though he had no choice over the last one, after Parliament passed a law that required him to do just that.

Ian Blackford, the leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) in Westminster, turned his speech in the election debate into a new pitch for Scottish independence.

Scottish independence is once again becoming a major topic.

The majority of Scottish people voted to remain in the European Union in the June 2016 referendum, and the SNP has been using that result as an argument in favor of another vote on Scottish independence.

Blackford said:

Prime Minister Boris Johnson?has written to Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, to confirm that the UK will accept the Brexit extension offered by the European Union on Monday.

This is not something Johnson wanted to do – indeed, he said he’d rather be “dead in the ditch” than ask for another delay to the UK’s departure from the bloc.

But UK lawmakers passed a bill requiring him to seek an extension if he failed to get support for his Brexit deal, which meant Johnson’s hands were tied.

Read the full letter here.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is driven into the Houses of Parliament on Monday.

The debate is heating up. Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn said the theme of Monday’s vote was that “nobody trusts the government.”

Corbyn said Labour can see the need for an early election, but doesn’t think December is the right time for Brits to head to the polls.

Corbyn specifically mentioned student voters, saying that the timing of the proposed election – just before their Christmas vacation is due to begin – risks disenfranchising them.

The Labour leader also suggested that a winter election could prevent older and disabled voters from casting their votes.

Boris Johnson accuses lawmakers on the Opposition benches of attempting to “frustrate” Brexit.

“We have an excellent deal … and we will be campaigning on the basis of that deal,” he says in response to a point of order from a DUP lawmaker. That party – once Johnson’s partner in a minority government – opposes Johnson’s deal, which puts a customs border in the Irish Sea.

“I think the Leader of the Opposition has now run out of excuses,” he adds, referencing Jeremy Corbyn’s previous reasoning for opposing an election.

“I hope he accepts tonight that he is snookered and that this charade has gone on long enough,” Johnson adds, calling for the Labour party to have the “courage” to face the electorate.

Boris Johnson is addressing Parliament, making a pitch to lawmakers for a snap general election.

“Nobody in this House relishes the idea of a general election,” he says, admitting a poll would be “inconvenient” – especially over the holiday season.

“But across the country, there is a widespread view that this Parliament has run its course,” he adds.

“I simply do not believe that this House is capable of delivering on the priorities of the people.”

Johnson then strays from his previous pledges to “get Brexit done,” saying instead that he “would rather get Brexit done” – to a mixture of cheers and jeers from the opposing benches.

Boris Johnson’s push for an election on Thursday December 12 looks doomed to fail tonight.

With the Labour Party set to oppose the push, Johnson won’t get close to the two-thirds majority of MPs needed to force an early poll.

But he’ll be handed a reprieve tomorrow, with the Liberal Democrats and the SNP set to support a one-line bill, which would overrule the current Fixed Term Parliaments Act and need a simple majority to pass.

The Lib Dems’ plan is for a Monday December 9 election, and there is speculation that Downing Street may try to force the poll into the middle of the week – perhaps Tuesday December 10 or Wednesday December 11.

But why does any of this matter? What difference does a couple of days make?

Well, though the parties aren’t publicly delving into the reasons behind their preferences, there are a few conclusions that can be drawn.

It seems clear, for example, that Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the SNP would prefer an earlier date to help them attract the student vote. Most university terms end the week of the proposed election, meaning young people registered to vote in their college towns will have gone home for the holidays.

Jeremy Corbyn’s surprising surge at the 2017 election had much to do with the student vote, with Labour outperforming expectations in university towns across the country. In an interview with ITV on Friday, he admitted that the student factor was one of the reasons he opposed the government’s proposed date.

And with young people far more likely to oppose Brexit and support left-leaning parties, opposition parties would be far more likely to want to boost their vote than the government.

Another cause for concern across all parties is the proximity of the election date to Christmas Day. It’s a tougher sell than usual to get voters to the polls on a cold, dark December evening in the middle of a busy social period.

So expect some squabbles over exactly when a vote will take place over the next few hours, as the country inches towards a pre-Christmas poll.

Businesses in the United Kingdom have already endured more than three years of?Brexit?uncertainty.

Now, as the third deadline to leave the European Union zooms by, companies are left to grapple with a profoundly unpredictable domestic political situation that will further erode business investment.

Companies had been cautiously optimistic that Prime Minister Boris Johnson would remove the immediate threat of a disorderly break with the European Union by pushing his?Brexit?deal through UK Parliament ahead of the latest October 31 exit deadline.

He failed to secure approval, instead seeking another extension from Brussels while demanding a UK general election on December 12.

A completed deal on Brexit, even one that?harmed the economy by erecting new trade barriers?between Britain and its largest export market, would have provided businesses with some of the policy certainty they have been craving.

That, in turn, might have encouraged CEOs to start spending more money on equipment, factory upgrades and expansions that have been delayed because of uncertainty over Brexit.

Read more about Brexit’s impact on business here.

Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP leader, has written a Twitter thread outlining why her party is backing an early general election.

“Firstly, we have to ask ourselves what the alternative is,” Sturgeon writes. “Doing nothing allows Johnson to get his bad deal through (with Lab support) or, even worse, run down clock to end January when no deal becomes a real risk all over again.”

She notes that Johnson would rather contest an election “with Brexit already ‘delivered,’” but that the SNP’s plan would force him to fight one having failed to keep his “do or die” promise on Brexit.

The irony is that the SNP and Liberal Democrats’ plan could throw Johnson a lifeline, allowing him to secure an election even if Labour block his attempt later.

Ahead of the vote on his attempt to secure an early election later, Boris Johnson has made a written statement to the House of Commons.

He confirms that if his plan succeeds, Parliament would dissolve after November 6 for the election campaign.

Johnson adds that the new Parliament would meet before Christmas, giving it some extra time to deal with Brexit before the new year – and the new January 31 deadline.

Splits between opposition parties about how to tackle Boris Johnson’s Brexit strategy began to emerge over the weekend, when the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party unveiled a plan to secure a general election in spite of Labour’s resistance.

Now, after presenting a rare united front for weeks in the face of Johnson’s attempts, those divisions are being laid bare.

Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson has hit out at Labour’s shadow chancellor John McDonnell, who had accused Swinson’s bloc of re-igniting their David Cameron-led coalition with the Conservatives.

The divisions echo those in the official People’s Vote campaign, which has descended into civil war this morning after Roland Rudd, the chairmen of one of the groups making up the organization, tried to oust two of its key figures.

And, more significantly, they signal just how isolated Labour has become by continuing to block Johnson’s attempts to force an election.

The party will be able to deny the Prime Minister a poll later on Monday if it remains united in that stance, but risks having an election thrust upon them later in the week if the Lib Dems’ plan passes Parliament – which could lead to an awkward narrative as the party begins a six-week campaign.

Guy Verhofstadt, the EU Parliament’s chief Brexit negotiator, has tweeted that he’s relieved “no one died in a ditch” – a reference to Boris Johnson’s insistence that he’d rather find himself in such a predicament than request another extension.

But Verhofstadt also indicated that the EU’s patience is wearing thinner still, and that this delay could be the last one they grant.

“The uncertainty of Brexit has gone on for far too long,” he wrote.

The Scottish National Party’s Westminster leader has called for a general election after the European Union approved a Brexit delay.

The SNP is crucial to Boris Johnson’s push for a poll. The party had previously backed Labour in blocking his attempts, but is now ready to support the Prime Minister’s request along with the Liberal Democrats.

Boris Johnson arrives at Downing Street on Monday.

For the past few days, leaders in Europe and Westminster have been locked in a standoff – the EU wanting to hear the UK’s next steps before granting an extension, and British politicians awaiting a verdict from Brussels before deciding on an early election.

But now one part of the equation has fallen into place – European leaders have granted a Brexit delay until the end of January.

In theory, that should make an election more likely; the UK now has time to have a campaign period and hold a vote, with several weeks to spare before the new Brexit deadline.

But as Prime Minister Boris Johnson has learned, getting an election is easier said than done. He needs two-thirds of MPs to back the plan, which requires support from the opposition Labour Party.

And Labour have been steadfast in opposing a vote until a no-deal Brexit is “off the table.” They’ve been less clear about what exactly “off the table” means – so much will depend on whether the party deems this extension satisfactory for them to back a poll.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn could still argue that the threat remains of a no-deal in January 2020, as well as at the end of the transition period in Johnson’s Brexit deal.

Johnson’s Plan B: If Labour do continue to block an election, they’ll be isolated. The SNP and the Liberal Democrats have now warmed to the idea of a contest, after previously supporting Corbyn in stonewalling the Prime Minister.

And those two opposition parties have handed Johnson an unlikely lifeline – they’ve indicated that they will support a bill overruling the Fixed Term Parliaments Act. This would call for an election but would only need a simple majority of MPs to pass.

In return, they would want the January 31 extension secured, meaning Johnson would have to put his efforts to pass his Brexit deal on hold for now.

This plan could still be an appealing path for the Prime Minister, should he lose the vote on his election request later today.

French President Emmanuel Macron agreed to a three-month Brexit delay after Boris Johnson’s push for an election eased fears in Paris, a French diplomat has told CNN.

The diplomat said earlier on Monday that EU leaders were heading towards a delay until January 31 2020, as per the UK’s request. That extension was announced by European Council President Donald Tusk this morning.

It comes after Johnson and Macron spoke over the weekend, the diplomat added.

The French President had reprised his role as the bad cop of the Brexit delay negotiations, earlier suggesting that an extension should not be given unless circumstances changed significantly.

A possible election satisfied that stipulation – but France is still opposed to renegotiating the withdrawal agreement, and expects the UK to name a candidate for the EU commission now that it will remain a member of the bloc, the diplomat said.

European leaders have agreed to the UK’s request for a three-month Brexit extension, the EU Council President Donald Tusk has tweeted.

He said the “flextension,” which can be shortened if Britain passes a deal in the meantime, is set to be formalized soon.

This is the delay that Johnson insisted he would never request – but his hands were tied when Parliament forced an extension if the Prime Minister couldn’t pass his exit deal.

The news could now swing opposition MPs towards supporting Johnson’s attempt to force a snap general election later.

The UK is staggering towards another?Brexit cliff edge. A deal?has been agreed?between Boris Johnson’s government and the European Union, but there’s very little chance that this will be ratified in London before Halloween, the current deadline for the United Kingdom’s departure.

That date can change, and Brussels may well grant a third extension beyond October 31. This would stop the UK crashing out of the bloc at the end of the month. But it would do nothing to calm the mayhem, nastiness and confusion that has engulfed Westminster for three years.

Johnson says he will?ask for an early election on Monday?– the third time in his short premiership that he has made this request. Yet there is no political consensus over when this election should happen. So the UK will keep limping forward, with no one able to break the deadlock or provide any clarity for an exhausted public.

It didn’t need to have been like this. Looking back at the last three years, it’s easy to pinpoint the errors that made delivering Brexit on time impossible.

Read more here.

“No ifs, no buts.”

That was Boris Johnson’s repeated promise to the British people – Brexit would not be delayed again, and the UK would leave the European Union on October 31.

But as the week of the scheduled exit arrives, European leaders have granted the country a reprieve and approved its request for a third delay to the process.

It means the UK will avoid a no-deal break on Thursday. But for Johnson, who said he’d rather be “dead in a ditch” than delay the saga again, the inability to deliver a Halloween Brexit is little short of a nightmare.

A decision on the delay has just been announced. Then, this afternoon, the second big moment of the day takes place: Parliament will vote on Johnson’s attempt to force a Christmas general election – and a potential route out of the torturous Brexit impasse.

This was supposed to be the week of Brexit. That may not be the case – but the next few days could, at least, pave a course out of Britain’s political chaos.