Face of Nation : Boris Johnson faces a new battle in the Commons after his first vote as PM saw him lose to rebel Tories and opposition MPs who object to a no-deal Brexit. The Commons voted 328 to 301 to take control of the agenda, allowing them to bring a bill requesting a Brexit delay.
The PM is to call for a general election if he is forced to request an extension to the 31 October deadline. MPs will now vote on the Brexit delay bill. If it passes, the vote on whether to hold an election will follow.
Wednesday in the Commons will also see Chancellor Sajid Javid outline the government’s spending plans, with the health service, education and the police expected to fare well.
Speaking late on Tuesday to a packed House of Commons, the prime minister said the MPs’ bill would “hand control” of Brexit negotiations to the EU and bring “more dither, more delay, more confusion”.
He told MPs he had no choice but to press ahead with efforts to call an October election, adding: “The people of this country will have to choose.” Mr Johnson has tabled a motion in Parliament seeking approval for an “early general election” but has not specified a date.
Labour has said the bill taking the no-deal option completely “off the table” needs to be passed before his party would support the call for a general election. Shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir Starmer told Sky News that Mr Johnson could not be “trusted” to hold the poll before the Brexit deadline despite No 10’s insistence it will.
“We are not dancing to Mr Johnson’s tune. He is a man who is not trusted…If he says the election will be on 15 October, most people in Parliament will not believe him.”
Under the Fixed Term Parliaments Act, a prime minister must have the backing of at least two-thirds of the UK’s 650 MPs before a general election can be called outside of the fixed five-year terms.
Downing Street said the 21 Tory MPs who rebelled in Tuesday’s vote would have the whip removed, effectively expelling them from the parliamentary party and meaning they could not stand as Conservative candidates in the election.
