Boris Johnson to push for election if EU offers longer delay
5012 Mins Read
The British Prime Minister will push for a general election if the EU proposes to delay Brexit until January, No 10 has indicated.
Boris Johnson “paused” his Brexit bill on Tuesday after MPs rejected his plan to get it signed off in three days.
Now EU leaders will consider whether to grant a delay to the 31 October Brexit deadline and what length it would be.
A letter Mr Johnson was forced by law to send to the bloc after failing to secure backing for his deal on Saturday calls for a three-month extension.
But a Downing Street source suggested the prime minister would not accept such a lengthy extension.
“On Saturday, Parliament asked for a delay until January and today Parliament blew its last chance,” the source quoted by the BBC said.
“If Parliament’s delay is agreed by Brussels, then the only way the country can move on is with an election. This Parliament is broken.”
Sky News reported that the EU is poised to accept the prime minister’s request for a fresh Brexit delay after he paused the progress of legislation aimed at ratifying his divorce deal.
Boris Johnson took the action after MPs rejected his timetable to pass the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, which is needed to put his Brexit deal into UK law.
MPs voted by 322 to 308 to defeat the government’s programme motion for the bill – which set out plans for the legislation to complete its passage through the House of Commons by Thursday night.
