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| EU delays decision on Brexit extension until MPs vote on election | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| The EU will delay its decision on the length of the next Brexit extension until next Monday or Tuesday to take into account the results of a vote on Boris Johnson’s demand for a Christmas general election. | |
| Speaking following a two-hour meeting of ambassadors in Brussels, the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, said an “excellent” discussion had not concluded with any clear way forward. “No decision,” he said. | |
| An EU source said the bloc’s offer would now be made on Monday or Tuesday – just 48 hours before the UK is set to leave the EU on 31 October – but that the president of the European council, Donald Tusk, had “no intention” of calling a special summit. | |
| The EU’s delay leaves Jeremy Corbyn with a difficult decision to make. He had said Labour would only vote in favour of a general election if the EU confirmed on Friday that it would grant a three-month extension, taking a no deal Brexit “off the table”. | |
| “There was full agreement on the need for an extension,” an EU source said of the meeting of EU27 ambassadors in Brussels. “There was full agreement to reach a unanimous, consensual EU27 decision. And there was full agreement to aim to take the decision by written procedure … Work will continue over the weekend.” | |
| The diplomatic source added that EU27 diplomats “expected to meet early next week to finalise an agreement”. | |
| A majority of member states want to accept the terms of an extension reluctantly requested by Johnson in a letter sent last Saturday under which Brexit could be delayed until 31 January. The UK would leave earlier if the withdrawal agreement was ratified in Westminster and by the European parliament. | A majority of member states want to accept the terms of an extension reluctantly requested by Johnson in a letter sent last Saturday under which Brexit could be delayed until 31 January. The UK would leave earlier if the withdrawal agreement was ratified in Westminster and by the European parliament. |
| Boris Johnson has three options to try and call a general election. Under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, an election may be called if it is agreed by two-thirds of the total number of MPs. Johnson presented motions for an election on 4 and 9 September and failed on both occasions when the majority of Labour MPs abstained. Johnson could try this again and potentially secure Labour backing, because the Benn act has removed the imminent possibility of a no-deal Brexit. | Boris Johnson has three options to try and call a general election. Under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, an election may be called if it is agreed by two-thirds of the total number of MPs. Johnson presented motions for an election on 4 and 9 September and failed on both occasions when the majority of Labour MPs abstained. Johnson could try this again and potentially secure Labour backing, because the Benn act has removed the imminent possibility of a no-deal Brexit. |
| This lowers the threshold of MPs needed to trigger a general election because it requires a simple majority to pass. This could work in Johnson’s favour. However, it is amendable, which can involve the moving of an election date to a time that works for the opposition. | This lowers the threshold of MPs needed to trigger a general election because it requires a simple majority to pass. This could work in Johnson’s favour. However, it is amendable, which can involve the moving of an election date to a time that works for the opposition. |
| The leader of the opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, can call a no-confidence motion in the prime minister. This needs a simple majority to pass. He has been urged to do this by Johnson several times as a way of triggering an election, but Corbyn has resisted. It begins a 14-day period in which either the prime minister or someone else can try to form a new government. While Johnson could potentially lose this, and therefore his place as prime minister, to another Conservative, Corbyn could also struggle to get enough MPs to rally around him to form a government. The Scottish National party has said it would back him, but the Liberal Democrats have been extremely vocal in saying they would not support him. An election is triggered if, at the end of the two-week period, no alternative government has been formed. | The leader of the opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, can call a no-confidence motion in the prime minister. This needs a simple majority to pass. He has been urged to do this by Johnson several times as a way of triggering an election, but Corbyn has resisted. It begins a 14-day period in which either the prime minister or someone else can try to form a new government. While Johnson could potentially lose this, and therefore his place as prime minister, to another Conservative, Corbyn could also struggle to get enough MPs to rally around him to form a government. The Scottish National party has said it would back him, but the Liberal Democrats have been extremely vocal in saying they would not support him. An election is triggered if, at the end of the two-week period, no alternative government has been formed. |
| Kate Proctor Political correspondent | Kate Proctor Political correspondent |
| But the French government has been the most outspoken in demanding clarity on the purpose of an extension. “It is the French, always the French,” said one senior diplomat. | But the French government has been the most outspoken in demanding clarity on the purpose of an extension. “It is the French, always the French,” said one senior diplomat. |
| Sources suggested that Macron was keen to appear helpful to Downing Street. | |
| Johnson’s claim that he will pull the withdrawal agreement bill and “go on strike” if Labour rejects his demand for a general election on 12 December has rung alarm bells in Brussels. | Johnson’s claim that he will pull the withdrawal agreement bill and “go on strike” if Labour rejects his demand for a general election on 12 December has rung alarm bells in Brussels. |
| France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, has said a three-month extension would only make sense if there was going to be a general election or a clear route to ratification. | |
| There remains the possibility that the EU will offer a shorter delay to mid or late November in order to put pressure on MPs to back the Brexit deal, although sources suggested that this remained unlikely. | |
| On Thursday, France’s EU minister, Amélie de Montchalin, told RTL radio that clarity over the next steps in London was needed for decisions to be made in “the next hours and days”. | On Thursday, France’s EU minister, Amélie de Montchalin, told RTL radio that clarity over the next steps in London was needed for decisions to be made in “the next hours and days”. |
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