‘You don’t want an election’: BoJo speaks on snap national vote after emergency cabinet meeting

UK PM Boris Johnson pleaded with MPs to avoid another “pointless” Brexit delay, adding that he doesn’t want a snap election. He spoke after an emergency cabinet meeting, amid a battle with rebel Tories over an extension of Brexit.

Johnson emerged from 10 Downing Street on Monday evening to loud booing and cheering from a crowd that gathered ahead of the surprise speech.

"I believe we will get a deal at that crucial summit in October, a deal that parliament will certainly be able to scrutinize. And in the meantime, let’s let our negotiators get on without that sword of Damocles over their necks, and without an election," Johnson said.

I don't want an election, you don’t want an election. Let’s get on with the people’s agenda.

However, Johnson wasn’t exactly clear on how he would proceed if “tomorrow, MPs will vote with [Labour's] Jeremy Corbyn for yet another pointless delay.”

“I don’t think they will, I hope that they won’t. But if they do, they would plainly chop the legs out from under the UK position and make any further negotiation impossible. And so I say, to show our friends in Brussels that we are united in our purpose, MPs should vote with the government against Corbyn’s pointless delay,” the PM said.

He stressed that “there are no circumstances in which I will ask Brussels to delay. We’re leaving on the 31st of October, no ifs or buts.”

Earlier, ITV had reported that a vote on a general election is expected Wednesday.

Bookmakers have slashed the odds on a general election, with a wide-range of media outlets reporting that Johnson will lay down a motion on Tuesday, asking British lawmakers to vote for a snap poll. 

James Cleverly, the Conservative Party chairman, refused three times to rule out Downing Street calling an election in the next three weeks, in an interview with ITV News.

A rebel alliance of opposition MPs signaled that they will attempt to stop a ‘no-deal’ Brexit by tabling a new piece of Brexit legislation – extending the deadline past October 31. If successful, it would risk scuppering Johnson’s promise to the UK nation – that Britain will leave the EU with or without a deal by Halloween.

Snap election likely?

This move by rebel politicians may force Johnson’s hand into calling an election, but it’s far from certain whether it will be given the green light by the majority of MPs. Johnson requires a two-thirds majority of lawmakers in the House of Commons to carry a vote for an election.

Earlier, Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, taking questions after his speech on Brexit in Salford, suggested that his party would welcome a general election in all circumstances, but some of his backbench MPs remain unconvinced it would be the right tactic.

Labour MPs Darren Jones and Owen Smith warned that voting for a snap poll would risk seeing a ‘no-deal’ Brexit materialising. Both politicians signaled that they would not back such a move, and that they may not be alone in their thinking.

In the event that a general election is given the go-ahead, it could be held mid- to late-October, before the Brexit deadline day. The law states that there must be 25 working days between an election being formally called and polling day.

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