Johnson’s second election bid fails

BORIS Johnson has suffered a nother hu m i l iat i ng Commons defeat after his second bid for a snap general election was rejected by MPs.

The Prime Minister said he wanted to head to the polls next month to break the political deadlock, as he accused opposition parties of making “outrageous excuses” to delay.

But Labour and other opposition MPs refused to back the bid – which needed a two-thirds majority in the Commons – while the risk of a no-deal remained.

MPs voted 293 to 46, short of the 434 needed – marking the new PM’s sixth Commons defeat. The prorogation, passed in the early hours of this morning, makes a general election extremely unlikely until at least mid-November.

Parliament was suspended for five weeks around 1.45am following a ceremony interrupted by protests from opposition MPs, bringing to a close the longest parliamentary session in the history of the UK.

Signs bearing the word “silenced” were held by some Labour MPs, while Lloyd Russell-Moyle appeared to try to hold on to Mr Bercow at the point he was requested to lead MPs to the Lords.

Shouts of “shame on you” could be heard as Government MPs left the Commons to head to the House of Lords for the prorogation ceremony.

Earlier, Mr Johnson, who today was expected to continue campaigning for the election he is yet to successfully call, said Jeremy Corbyn had become the first leader of the opposition in the country’s history to “show his confidence” in the Government “by declining the opportunity to have an election with a view to removing the Government”.

But amid stormy scenes in the chamber Mr Corbyn said he would not let his party walk into “traps laid by this Prime Minister”.

“This Government is only interested in shutting down Parliament to avoid any scrutiny,” the Labour leader said.