Labour to reject Boris Johnson's fresh bid for October snap general election
2 min read
Labour will reject Boris Johnson's latest attempt to stage a general election on 15 October.
In another blow for the Prime Minister, Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry confirmed that her party will vote against any poll while there is still a chance of the UK leaving the EU without a deal on Hallowe'en.
Appearing on the BBC's Question Time, she said: "No, we’re not going to support Boris Johnson because - what we want to do more than anything else, in our hearts, in our bones we want a general election of course we do - but at the moment the emergency is we have a dishonest Prime Minister who will use every means possible to get us out of the European Union without a deal."
Downing Street confirmed on Thursday that Mr Johnson will table a fresh motion for a 15 October election on Monday.
Under the Fixed Term Paliaments Act, it would require a two-thirds majority - 434 votes - to pass. The Prime Minister's last attempt, on Wednesday night, only received the backing of 298 MPs.
Opposition party leaders will hold talks on Friday morning at which they will agree that no election should take place until after the current Brexit deadline of 31 October is passed.
A bill forcing the Prime Minister to request a three-month extension if he cannot get a Brexit deal through the Commons by 19 October was passed on Wednesday.
Mr Johnson - who vowed to take the UK out of the EU by 1 November "do or die" - has insisted there are no circumstances in which he will personally ask for that extension.
Speaking on Thursday, the PM repeated his calls for an election to take place before a crunch EU summit on 17 October, at which he has said he will try to get a new deal.
He said: "I want to give the country a choice. We either go forward with my plan to get a deal, take the country out on 31 October, which we can, or else somebody should be allowed to see if they can keep us in after 31 October.
"If people really think that this country should stay in the European Union after 31 October, then that really should be something for the people of this country to decide."
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
