EU poised to offer extension for Johnson’s snap election to break Brexit deadlock
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EU ambassadors are to meet to discuss what length of Brexit extension to offer the UK, as MPs consider Boris Johnson’s call for an early election.
Most EU states are understood to favour a three-month delay, with an option to end earlier if a deal is ratified sooner than this by Parliament.
But France has argued for a shorter extension to the 31 October deadline.
Boris Johnson wants an election on 12 December, offering parliamentary time until 6 November to allow MPs to scrutinise his Brexit deal.
He will bring a motion to the House of Commons on Monday, but opposition parties have yet to commit their support, despite their own frequent calls for an election for more than two years.
Both the Liberal Democrats and Labour say they want to know what the EU will offer the UK as another Brexit extension before they back Britons going to the polls.
On Thursday night, there were reports the party’s official position was to abstain on the vote, ending any chance of it gaining enough support.
But in an interview later, leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “Take no deal off the table, and we absolutely support an election.”
