Johnson Seeks Dec. 12 Election to Break Deadlock: Brexit Update
Johnson’s spokeswoman says cabinet meeting was opportunity to discuss Tuesday’s votes on Brexit bill, discussions with EU leaders.
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced he will seek a general election on Dec. 12 in an effort to secure a Parliamentary majority for his Brexit deal.
Johnson briefed his cabinet on Thursday afternoon and announced that a motion will be put to Parliament for a vote on Oct. 28.
By law, he will need to secure the backing of two-thirds of members of Parliament to hold an early election, giving the opposition Labour party an effective veto if all of its 245 MPs vote against his plan. In September, Johnson tried twice to go to the polls -- but on both occasions failed to get the necessary majority.
While opposition parties say they want a general election, they first want to ensure that Britain can’t crash out of the European Union without a deal on Oct. 31. The EU is widely expected to grant a three-month extension when ambassadors meet in Brussels on Friday, putting back the U.K.’s exit until Jan. 31.
Key Developments:
- Johnson Seeks Dec 12 General Election in to Break Brexit Impasse
- Brexit Twists Point to Election. Here’s How It Works: QuickTake
- Pound Slides to One-Week Low on Talk of U.K. Election Risks
Johnson Offers More Votes Before Election (5:20 p.m.)
In a letter to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, Johnson said that if the opposition commits to voting for an election (and the EU agrees to an extension) he will set aside “all possible time between now and Nov. 6 for the Withdrawal Agreement Bill to be discussed and voted through.”
“This means that we could get Brexit done before the election on Dec. 12, if MPs choose to do so,” Johnson said.
Johnson Seeks Election (5:02 p.m.)
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson will seek a general election on Dec. 12. Johnson briefed his cabinet on Thursday afternoon and announced that a motion will be put to Parliament for a vote on Monday.
Cabinet Focused on Brexit Bill Votes, EU Talks (4 p.m.)
Thursday afternoon’s meeting of cabinet was an opportunity to discuss last Tuesday’s House of Commons votes on the government’s Brexit legislation and for Prime Minister Boris Johnson to update ministers on his talks with European Union leaders, his spokeswoman told reporters.
Asked about speculation the government is preparing to seek an early general election, Alison Donnelly pointed to the government’s business statement -- which did not include a proposal for an early ballot (see 11:30 a.m.) -- and said “at this point I don’t have any more to add.”
DUP Will Back Queen’s Speech (3.05 p.m)
The 10 MPs from Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party will vote in favor of the government’s legislative agenda when in comes to a vote in the House of Commons later today, a party spokesman said.
Their support for the so-called Queen’s Speech, which includes 26 draft bills focused on Boris Johnson’s domestic plans, makes it more likely the prime minister will get a majority for his program.
Labour Prefers New Timetable for Brexit Bill (2.30 p.m.)
The main opposition Labour Party would prefer to find an alternative timetable for passing the Brexit bill than have a general election, its Treasury spokesman, John McDonnell, told reporters.
McDonnell said the Labour leadership is still in talks with the government to agree a new timetable, and is asking for more days -- rather than weeks -- to scrutinize the proposals.
But McDonnell also said he was ready for an election “whenever,” and isn’t worried Labour would do badly. “I want to get rid of this lot,” he said.
Ireland Fires Warning Over EU Trade Deal (12:50 p.m.)
In a reminder of the long road ahead even if Boris Johnson can get his Brexit withdrawal deal through Westminster, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney warned the U.K. that standards will need to stay closely aligned to the EU if a wide ranging future trade agreement between the two sides is to be agreed.
If the U.K. wants trade that “is as seamless as they would like it to be with the EU under a free trade agreement, they will have to provide guarantees sector by sector around level playing field issues and equivalence,” Coveney said in Parliament in Dublin. “Or else they won’t have the kind of FTA that they’re looking for.”
“We cannot have a situation whereby the U.K. decides to change its regulatory model, fundamentally diverges from EU standards and at the same time trades into the EU uninhibited,” he said.
Govt Can’t Guarantee Brexit Bill After Election (12:15 p.m.)
Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg said that if there’s a general election before Brexit legislation is passed, he can’t guarantee the same bill -- which would put Boris Johnson’s deal with the EU into law -- will return to Parliament.
He was responding to a question from a fellow Conservative seeking assurance that “precisely the same deal that we have now” would be put before the House of Commons after a general election.
“It’s impossible to guarantee what might happen after a general election because we don’t know what will be in the various manifestos and we don’t know what a new Parliament will decide to do,” Rees-Mogg said.
“The deal as it currently stands has its second reading. If there were to be an election, of course any bills that haven’t completed their passage fall, so there can be no guarantees of that kind.”
Rees-Mogg Makes Joke of Missing Bill (11:50 a.m.)
Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg said that next Thursday, Oct. 31, is the date “set in law” for leaving the European Union, and made a joke of the withdrawal bill not being on the agenda for next week (see 11:30 a.m.)
Asked by the SNP what had happened to the legislation, Rees-Mogg said: “Here I think the answer lies with Sir Percy Blakeney,” referring to the literary character the Scarlet Pimpernel. “They seek it here, they seek it there. Those Parliamentarians seek it everywhere. Is it in heaven or is it in hell? That damned elusive Brexit bill.”
He confirmed that the government is waiting on Brussels before acting. “We don’t know what the EU will do,” he told MPs.
Neither Brexit or Election on Next Week’s Agenda (11:30 a.m)
Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg didn’t include the Withdrawal Agreement Bill or proposed legislation for a general election when he announced business for the lower chamber of Parliament next week.
If the U.K. is to leave the EU with a deal on Oct. 31, the necessary legislation would have to be passed early next week.
Will Johnson Have to Appoint a Commissioner? (11:10 a.m.)
In what might prove an embarrassing complication for Boris Johnson, European Commission president-elect Ursula Von der Leyen said at a press conference in Helsinki that if the U.K. is still in the EU after Nov. 1, “I would ask the U.K. to send in a commissioner.”
Meanwhile, the EU Parliament recommended the bloc should accept London’s request for a flexible extension until the end of January. The recommendation should be caveatted by the fact that the parliament has no formal say on whether the request will be accepted.
Dodds Warns Of Unrest Over Deal (11 a.m.)
Nigel Dodds, Westminster leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, warned Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay that checks in the Irish Sea would disrupt the fragile political stability in Northern Ireland “by what you’re doing to the unionist community.”
“We’re really in danger here of causing real problems,” Dodds told the House of Commons. “We need to get our heads together and look at a way forward that can solve this problem.”
Veteran Brexiter Tory Bill Cash backed Dodds and urged Barclay to listen to the DUP’s concerns.
Brexit Will Involve N. Ireland Checks: Barclay (10:45 p.m.)
Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay conceded on Thursday that Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal will involve some checks on trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland after the U.K. leaves the European Union -- directly contradicting comments on Wednesday by the prime minister.
“There will be minimal targeted interventions designed to prevent, for example, trade in endangered species,” Barclay told the House of Commons. “We will work with the European Union to eliminate these limited processes as soon as possible.”
Johnson told the chamber less than 24 hours earlier that “there will be no checks between Northern Ireland and GB.” Barclay said Johnson was referring to the paperwork, which will be done digitally, rather than having physical checks.
The provisions on trade between Northern Ireland and Great Britain are at the heart of the disagreement between Johnson and his Conservative Party’s former allies in the Democratic Unionist Party, who have accused him of putting up a border in the Irish Sea.
Lib Dems Propose Referendum Amendment (Earlier)
The Liberal Democrats have proposed an amendment to the Queen’s Speech legislation due to be voted on in Parliament on Thursday that would add a second referendum on Brexit.
The amendment, which has little chance of passing and wouldn’t in any case force the government to accept, seeks to add a line that the government “should make arrangements for a people’s vote in which the public will have the choice between the latest withdrawal agreement and remaining in the European Union.”
Labour Will Back Election, Long-Bailey Says (Earlier)
Rebecca Long-Bailey, Labour’s business spokeswoman, said the party will back a general election once the EU has granted an extension to Brexit but said Boris Johnson should consider the party’s revised timetable to get a deal through Parliament.
Johnson rejected a proposal by party leader Jeremy Corbyn on Wednesday to allow more time to scrutinize his Withdrawal Agreement Bill during its passage through Parliament. Johnson lost a vote on his proposed accelerated timetable on Tuesday, throwing his Brexit plans into disarray.
“Jeremy Corbyn went to Boris Johnson and offered a realistic and pragmatic way forward, he said if you come back with a reasonable time frame for us to be able to scrutinize this bill in Parliament we will work with you if you really want to deliver this bill,” Long-Bailey told BBC Radio 4. “If he goes straight to calling for a general election of course we’ll support a general election.”
Cleverly Doesn’t Rule Out Christmas Election (Earlier)
Conservative Chairman James Cleverly said his party is ready for a general election and it could come in the run up to Christmas to break the impasse over Brexit.
“I don’t want to be the Grinch, but the point is democracy is incredibly important,” Cleverly told BBC Radio. “We have been prevented from discharging the duty imposed upon us. We want to get on with governing.”
“We’ve been calling for a general election, me personally, the prime minister at the ballot box, my friends and colleagues all around the country, for months now,” Cleverly said. “The Labour Party are running scared and I can completely understand why, their Brexit message is confused at best.”
Earlier:
--With assistance from Kati Pohjanpalo, Thomas Penny and Peter Flanagan.
To contact the reporters on this story: Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.net;Jessica Shankleman in London at jshankleman@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Stuart Biggs, Thomas Penny
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