(Bloomberg) --
The U.K. moved a step closer to a general election as the political crisis engulfing the country over its divorce from the European Union deepened. The pound fell 0.8%.
Allies of Prime Minister Boris Johnson are considering a snap poll as he battles his opponents in Parliament who are trying to stop him taking the U.K. out of the EU without a deal on Oct. 31.
Talk of an early election highlights the make-or-break nature of this week for Johnson’s leadership and for the country as a whole. Since he became prime minister in July, Johnson has made it his mission to prepare the U.K. to leave the EU by the Oct. 31 deadline even if that means tumbling out of the 28-country bloc with no deal to cushion the blow to trade.
Many politicians inside his own Conservative Party are unwilling to go along with this plan, believing it will hit the economy, sparking a recession and a crash in the currency and house prices. They have been trying to work out a way to stop the premier forcing through a no-deal Brexit that would damage the economy and leave businesses and citizens facing legal chaos.
Johnson’s opponents are now ready to act. They are drafting a new law to force the prime minister to delay Brexit by three months to the end of January 2020 if he fails to negotiate a new deal with the EU by the Halloween deadline. These opposition and rebel Tory politicians will try to rush their plan through Parliament on an emergency timetable this week.
For his part, Johnson stepped up his fightback on Monday. His aides threatened to fire any Conservative politicians who join the revolt against his policy and ban them from standing as Tories in future.
According to a person familiar with Johnson’s thinking, the premier will fight to defeat the rebel plan, but if he fails, the government could trigger a general election.
Johnson will treat defeat as if the government has suffered a vote of no confidence in its abilities to negotiate Brexit, the person said. That is a heavy hint that Johnson is considering throwing in the towel and calling an election if he loses this week’s crunch vote in the House of Commons.
Johnson called a meeting of his cabinet ministers for Monday evening, and is also due to meet his party’s members of Parliament for drinks in his 10 Downing Street offices.
‘Entirely unreasonable’
The premier’s spokesman James Slack said it would be “entirely unreasonable” for MPs -- who rejected Theresa May’s Brexit divorce deal three times -- to bind the new prime minister’s hands by blocking a no-deal Brexit just as he goes into fresh negotiations with the EU.
The forces ranged against Johnson span all the major parties in Britain’s Parliament. They include senior Conservative politicians such as former Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond, the official Labour opposition, and smaller opposition parties.
Johnson’s opponents are expected to try to take control over parliamentary business on Tuesday before debating their draft law forcing him to seek a Brexit delay on Wednesday. Under their draft law, Johnson will be forced to ask the EU for an extension to the Article 50 negotiating period until Jan. 31 if he has not secured a new deal -- or won parliamentary backing for a no-deal split -- by a deadline of Oct. 19.
Race against the clock
The chances of this plan making it into law will rest on a race against the clock. Johnson has announced he will suspend Parliament for a month from Sept. 12, in a move seen as an attempt to stop his opponents passing a bill to thwart his no-deal Brexit plans.
Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn warned that this week’s votes in Parliament could be the last chance to prevent Johnson taking the U.K. out of the EU without an agreement. “We must come together to stop no deal,” Corbyn said. “This week could be our last chance. We are working with other parties to do everything necessary to pull our country back from the brink.”
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