28th October, 2019
Anxiety writ large in the United Kingdom as it awaits Brussels’ decision on Brexit after the House of Commons forced Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ask the EU to postpone it until 31 January 2020, instead of crashing out of the bloc this week in accordance with the previous deadline.
Today Johnson is expected to urge the House of Commons to hold national elections in December to break the Brexit impasse.
There is no guarantee that he will have his way as political alliances in the house is in a state of flux.
The government needs at least two-thirds of legislators to back its motion, but the Labour Party has already stressed it won’t support the vote until the EU sets 31 January 2020 as the new Brexit deadline.
The Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party (SNP) also want to have an extension, however, their leaders have offered to amend the Fixed Term Parliament Act – which would need a simple majority – to hold elections on 9 December.
According to media reports, the Cabinet is bent on holding elections in December and will be considering “all options to get Brexit done” if the opposition Labour Party blocks its initial bid.
The UK Parliament approved Johnson’s divorce bill in principle after a series of heated disputes last week, but rejected an accelerated deadline for it, requiring the government to pause the law and let the MPs examine it while the European Union is deciding on another delay for the country.
Report adapted from Sputnik