Boris Johnson
has announced he will ask parliament to support plans for a snap
October general election after suffering a humiliating defeat in his
first House of Commons vote as prime minister.
Former cabinet ministers including Philip Hammond and David Gauke were among 21 Tory rebels who banded together with opposition MPs to seize control of the parliamentary timetable on a dramatic day in Westminster.
The move was aimed at paving the way for a bill tabled by the Labour backbencher Hilary Benn, which is designed to block a no-deal Brexit by forcing the prime minister to request an extension to article 50 if he cannot strike a reworked deal with the EU27.
Johnson lost the vote by 328 to 301, a convincing majority for the rebels of 27.
The PM had earlier described the legislation, drawn up by a cross-party coalition including the senior Tories Oliver Letwin and Dominic Grieve, as “Jeremy Corbyn’s surrender bill”.
After his defeat, Johnson said he would never request the delay mandated in the rebels’ bill, which he said would “hand control of the negotiations to the EU”.
If MPs passed the bill on Wednesday, he said, “the people of this country will have to choose” in an election that he would seek to schedule for 15 October.
Read more at: Boris Johnson suffers Commons defeat as Tories turn against him | Politics | The Guardian
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Former cabinet ministers including Philip Hammond and David Gauke were among 21 Tory rebels who banded together with opposition MPs to seize control of the parliamentary timetable on a dramatic day in Westminster.
The move was aimed at paving the way for a bill tabled by the Labour backbencher Hilary Benn, which is designed to block a no-deal Brexit by forcing the prime minister to request an extension to article 50 if he cannot strike a reworked deal with the EU27.
Johnson lost the vote by 328 to 301, a convincing majority for the rebels of 27.
The PM had earlier described the legislation, drawn up by a cross-party coalition including the senior Tories Oliver Letwin and Dominic Grieve, as “Jeremy Corbyn’s surrender bill”.
After his defeat, Johnson said he would never request the delay mandated in the rebels’ bill, which he said would “hand control of the negotiations to the EU”.
If MPs passed the bill on Wednesday, he said, “the people of this country will have to choose” in an election that he would seek to schedule for 15 October.
Read more at: Boris Johnson suffers Commons defeat as Tories turn against him | Politics | The Guardian
Support EU-Digest, which has reported the news without any political affiliation since 2004, and opposes those who seek to discredit news organizations who believe in the right of a free Press, by investing in an advertisement, or by giving a donation to keep our efforts going : to donate or advertise click on: https://www.paypal.com/webapps/hermes?token=8BP18304C1657151J&useraction=commit&mfid=1567106786154_8591ae1288ebf
