Boris Johnson news – live: PM to call October general election if rebel MPs vote to block no-deal
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Government officials revealed Boris Johnson plans to call a 14 October general election if he loses a crunch no-deal Brexit vote in the Commons on Tuesday.
The sources said the prime minister was confident that the election motion would receive the two-thirds majority required to trigger an early poll under the Fixed Term Parliaments Act.
Ministers will table the motion by the end of Tuesday, but it will be moved to a vote on Wednesday only if MPs vote tomorrow to take control of Commons business in order to pass a bill to block a no-deal Brexit on 31 October.
In an unexpected statement outside Number 10 on Monday, Mr Johnson insisted there were “no circumstances” in which he would delay Brexit beyond the current deadline.
The prime minister warned that MPs would “chop the legs out” from the UK position if they backed a Brexit extension as he addressed the nation this evening.
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Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg has defended the tough line being taken by No 10 against potential Tory rebels and insisted the prorogation of parliament is “completely routine”.
“I think that it is important for the government to establish the House of Commons and that this is essentially a confidence matter,” he told LBC Radio.
“Is there really a Conservative in this country who thinks that Jeremy Corbyn should control our legislative agenda?”
He also said any government of national unity led by Ken Clarke would be “blowing a raspberry at 17.4 million people … and I am not a raspberry blower”.
Here’s our deputy political editor Rob Merrick with more on David Gauke’s remarkable claim that the prime minister is trying to “goad” rebel Tory MPs into voting with the opposition and provoke a general election.
Jeremy Corbyn is visiting Salford today and has summoned the shadow cabinet for emergency talks to hammer out tactics to prevent a no-deal Brexit.
Our political correspondent Lizzy Buchan has the details.
Oliver Letwin, Dominic Grieve and Keir Starmer reportedly believe they can push through a bill to block no deal in “just a few hours”.
A draft version of their motion leaked to BuzzFeed News shows reveals the planned legislation would require Boris Johnson to seek an extension of Article 50 from the EU if a new deal with Brussels hasn’t been reached by a certain date in October.
While some think the bill could be passed on Wednesday after the opposition takes control of the order paper on Tuesday. But some believe it could even be done on Tuesday, within hours of an emergency debate.
There was a “significant spike” in Islamophobic incidents in the wake of Boris Johnson’s comparison between women in burkas and letterboxes, according to an anti-racism organisation.
Tell MAMA said there was a 375 per cent increase in anti-Muslim incidents from the week before Johnson made the comments to the week after.
In the week following the publication of Johnson’s controversial Daily Telegraph column in which he compared veiled Muslim women to “letterboxes”, 38 incidents were reported to police and Tell MAMA.
Of those incidents, 22 involved “visibly Muslim women who wore the face veil”, according to the organisation. “Between August 5 and August 29, 42 per cent of the street-based incidents reported to Tell MAMA directly referenced Boris Johnson and/or the language used in his column,” a statement from the organisation said.
In his Telegraph article in August 2018, Mr Johnson said full-face veils should not be banned, but it was “absolutely ridiculous” women chose to “go around looking like letterboxes”. He also compared them to “bank robbers”.
Johnson later defended his words, insisting that the backlash against them was nothing more than “confected indignation” at his “strong views” on Brexit.
David Gauke thinks Boris Johnson is goading rebel MPs into a general election. Tony Blair has warned Labour not to fall for the “elephant trap” of an immediate election.
Labour MP Ben Bradshaw has said: “I and I think the vast majority of Labour MPs, including the front bench will not help Mr Johnson engineer a general election on his terms to crash us out of the European Union without a deal.
“[Tony Blair] is very right to warn about that danger and I’m absolutely confident Jeremy Corbyn and the whole of our front bench are very cognisant of that danger.”
A reminder that shadow chancellor John McDonnell said “bring it on” at the weekend.
Here’s our political editor Andrew Woodcock with more on Tony Blair’s election warning for the Labour leadership.
Another former Labour PM is out and about today. Gordon Brown is visiting the Liverpool co-operative Homebaked on Monday to discuss the impact of a no-deal Brexit on food supply.
Brown joined the GMB union, campaign group Hope Not Hate and food charity Sustain to write to Boris Johnson warning of “potentially disastrous” risks a crashing out poses to the availability of food – including a significant rise in poverty.
“Food prices are going up and will go up even further because of Brexit, supplies of food will not be able to come into the country uninterrupted – that means vegetables and fruit and absolutely essential supplies to a young child’s diet,” he said.
“If cannot guarantee that the supplies of food cannot be guaranteed … then you cannot go ahead with a no-deal Brexit.”
Brown also said it would be a “constitutional outrage” if the government did not abide by legislation to stop a no-deal Brexit.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has begun speaking in Salford. “The people will not allow a phoney populist cabal in Downing Street, in hock to the vested interest of the rich, to deny them their democratic voice,” he said.
“So, when a prime minister who hasn’t won an election, who hasn’t won a majority, decrees that parliament should be shut down because he knows his plan for a disastrous no-deal doesn't have the votes, we say this is an attack on democracy that will be resisted.”
Corbyn also said the government was “threatening to just ignore legislation it doesn't like”, in reference to plans by opposition parties to block no-deal.
“That is how the elite operate. The rules they set for everyone else only apply to them when it suits them. Labour will never try to silence parliament.”
Repeating language he used in a recent column for The Independent, he said a no-deal Brexit would be a “Trump-deal Brexit” and would put UK public services “at the mercy” of big business in the US.
Jeremy Corbyn has been asked about a possible general election. Despite Tony Blair’s warning earlier this morning, he talked positively about the idea of heading to the polls.
“First we must come together to stop no-deal – 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. Then we need a general election.
“When a government finds itself without a majority, the solution is not to undermine democracy – the solution is to let the people decide, and call a general election.
“A general election is the democratic way forward, to give the people the choice between two very different directions for our country.”
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