Prime Minister Boris Johnson says his government will table a motion in parliament calling for a snap general election on December 12, Euronews reports.
He said delays in the passage of his Brexit deal through the House of Commons could “go on for a very long time” and that the EU could extend its deadline, “which I really don’t want at all.”
Johnson cannot hold an election before the end of the current five-year term without two-thirds approval from lawmakers — a threshold that he failed to achieve on two previous attempts in recent weeks.
He said it was time that Britain’s opposition, including the Labour Party, “summoned up the nerve” to back the latest motion.
“That’s the way forward because this parliament has been going for a long time without a majority, it is refusing to deliver Brexit.”
Johnson says the Dec. 12 date will give parliament time to scrutinize his Brexit bill until Nov. 6, when election campaigning would begin.SPONSORED CONTENTWitty comedy ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’ charms Berlin1Ad By euronews
Labour has been reluctant to back Johnson’s calls for an election call, saying it would risk a no-deal Brexit.
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 pic.twitter.com/PekfFRsR9F
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) 24 октября 2019 г.
Johnson published an open letter to Labour’s leader, Jeremy Corbyn, saying: “If you commit to voting for an election next week (in the event of the EU offering a delay until 31 January and the government accepting, as it is legally forced to do by parliament), then we will make available all possible time between now and 6 November for the WAB (Withdrawal Agreement Bill) to be discussed and voted through.”