Corbyn warned to block snap election amid threat of rebellion by Labour MPS
Party fears Prime Minister could push poll date past Jan 31 extension to force through a no-deal Brexit
JEREMY CORBYN has been urged to block an election until spring, as Labour claimed yesterday it could not trust Boris Johnson over the date of a poll.
The Labour leader has been warned he faces a full-scale rebellion if he agrees to a snap poll, after several of his allies insisted they wanted to go to the country before Christmas.
Downing Street sources yesterday insisted the Prime Minister would “go for a general election” if EU leaders granted a Brexit extension until Jan 31.
Mr Corbyn has repeatedly said that he would back an election if a threemonth delay is granted by Brussels, as set out in the Benn Act, the legislation passed to block no deal.
But last night it emerged that scores of Labour MPS had threatened to defy the whip if Mr Corbyn ordered them to
vote for an early poll. Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, a senior party insider said that several shadow cabinet ministers had also expressed alarm at recent polls, which show the Tories leading Labour by between 10 and 15 points.
“The view that we would not do well in an election is widely shared,” they said. Their comments were echoed by a shadow cabinet minister, who said: “If the date is Jan 31 what is to stop us from being back in the same position as now? People don’t want an election in winter.” They added that a number of Labour frontbenchers had been “explicit” that they would prefer to hold a referendum before an election, meaning a poll could be delayed for more than six months.
Mr Corbyn’s spokesman yesterday signalled that Labour could vote down an election unless it secured guarantees against a “no-deal crash-out” during a campaign period.
The Telegraph understands that Mr Corbyn’s inner circle fears that under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, Mr Johnson could push the date back until after the extension deadline, allowing him to force through no deal when Parliament is not sitting. Speaking to reporters yesterday, the spokesman said: “One of the worries about this situation is the control of the date by the executive and the Prime Minister. If it is nailed down that it is no longer possible to crash out in that [election] period then we will support it.”
A Labour source suggested that one way to secure safeguards against no deal would be for Mr Johnson to move a one-line Bill for an election, which would allow MPS to set a binding date.
However, Richard Burgon, the shadow justice secretary, told Sky News he wanted an election before Christmas “to get Boris and his Thatcherite mates out of Downing Street”.
A party grandee told The Telegraph that holding an election before Brexit would force Mr Johnson to head into a campaign having failed to deliver on his “do or die” pledge of leaving by Oct 31.