Brexit latest – Chicken Corbyn bottles Boris Johnson’s Dec 12 election but PM vows DAILY votes until he agrees
SPINELESS Jeremy Corbyn has bottled Boris Johnson’s challenge of a snap election AGAIN – but the PM is threatening daily votes until he agrees.
The Prime Minister boldly proposed to end the country’s Brexit “nightmare” by inviting the Labour leader to face him in a festive showdown on December 12.
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‘END THIS NIGHTMARE’
EU leaders are poised to grant Jeremy Corbyn‘s wish of delaying Brexit once again, most likely until January 31, effectively ruling out Britain leaving with No Deal on Halloween.
And Boris Johnson today offered the Labour leader more time to debate his withdrawal deal in a bid to finally get Brexit done.
But Corbyn, who has repeatedly used the spectre of No Deal as an excuse to avoid facing voters furious at his Brexit dithering, STILL refused to back an election.
The Labour boss ignored Boris’ olive branch and continued to waver – saying he’d only back Johnson’s offer of an early election when a no-deal Brexit is “off the table”.
Now Number 10 is threatening to stage Commons votes EVERY DAY on a snap election until Corbyn caves.
Tory sources told the Daily Mail they would not let the cowardly Labour supremo “hold the country hostage” as the Brexit crisis rumbles on.
A Downing Street insider said the Government would freeze all legislation, including the EU exit bill, and instead “campaign at every stage and at every opportunity for a General Election.”
In an interview, Corbyn said: “Take no-deal off the table and we absolutely support a general election.
“I’ve been calling for an election ever since the last one because this country needs one to deal with all the social injustice issues – but No Deal must be taken off the table.”
Corbyn insisted he had to wait for the EU to agree to the extension before he backed an election.
But The Sun can reveal Labour has already ordered its MPs to abstain from a vote on an election on Monday – effectively blocking one.
The Government would need the backing of two thirds of MPs to call an early election due to the Fixed Terms Parliament Act – and would fall considerably short of the 429 votes needed to trigger the vote without Labour.
Corbyn said he’d be led by the EU – once again – in whether to back a snap election.
COWARDLY CORBYN
He added: “Tomorrow the European Union will decide whether there’s going to be an extension or not.
“That extension will obviously encompass whether there’s a no-deal or not. Let’s find that out tomorrow.”
Pressed on whether there is a chance he could back a snap festive vote on Monday, he replied: “The principle is: take no-deal off the table, EU answer tomorrow, then we can decide.”
Last night the Government officially cancelled their plans to hold the Budget on November 6.
A Treasury source said: “Parliament has voted for a delay. We’re calling for an election so we won’t be delivering the Budget on November 6.”
The Prime Minister today challenged Corbyn to an election AND made a bold move to force his Brexit deal through first.
Johnson promised MPs they could have the extra time they want to debate and pass his deal if they agree to go to the country before Christmas.
But he said that if Parliament did not pass the deal by November 6 an election should still take place within weeks.
The move places huge pressure on Mr Corbyn ahead of a titanic Commons vote next Tuesday on Boris’s election plan.
As they scrambled for a response, the Shadow Cabinet met for an emergency meeting to decide Labour’s strategy this evening.
In a letter to the Labour leader, Mr Johnson accepted that Brussels is likely to offer a Brexit delay until the end of January – although his preference would be a short delay until November 15 or 30.
But he said the country cannot wait until next year for an election.
He wrote: “If the EU offers the delay that Parliament has requested – that is, we must stay in until 31 January – then it is clear that there must be an election.
“We cannot risk further paralysis. In these circumstances, the Commons will vote next week on whether to hold an election on December 12.
“This would mean that Parliament would dissolve just after midnight on 6 November.”
This evening the PM – who passed his Queen’s Speech through the House with 310 votes to 294 – implored Mr Corbyn to end the Brexit “nightmare” by backing him in the House.
He said: “It is our duty to end this nightmare and provide the country with a solution as soon as we reasonably can”.
Sharing a copy of the letter on Twitter, Mr Johnson said: “I have written to Jeremy Corbyn: this Parliament must get Brexit done now or a NEW Parliament must get Brexit done so the country can move on.”
‘WE’LL GET SMASHED’
In order to get the election he wants, Boris will need to secure the support of two thirds of MPs.
The PM twice challenged Labour to go to the polls in September, but both times the opposition refused to back it.
At the time, Mr Corbyn insisted the reason was to secure a Brexit delay first – an excuse that no longer applies.
But with Labour polling far behind the Conservatives and Mr Johnson, Mr Corbyn is facing a revolt from his own backbenchers who fear they will be trashed by the Tories.
Party sources told the that more than half of Labour MPs told party whips they would not vote for an election in the Commons.
One source said: “If he’s stupid enough to give Boris an election now we are going to get smashed.”
If he’s stupid enough to give Boris an election now we are going to get smashed.
Labour source
SNP Westminster Leader Ian Blackford tonight told reporters he will meet with Mr Corbyn and other opposition leaders to discuss holding a no confidence vote in the Prime Minister, rather than support his proposal.
However, the DUP have backed the PM’s election call and said its 10 MPs will vote for a December 12 poll.
The election move comes as EU chiefs were split over whether to grant a three-month extension or a much shorter one.
France has given the PM a major boost by leading a push to keep it to just 15 days, which Mr Johnson would prefer.
The PM continued to call EU leaders throughout the day to plead for the delay to be as short as possible so he could put pressure on MPs to pass his Brexit deal bill.
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