BRITISH PM JOHNSON THREATENS SNAP ELECTION.

PM takes aim at rebels siding with Labour

LONDON• Boris Johnson will hold a snap general election on Oct. 14, if the British Parliament votes to seize control of Brexit from him Tuesday night.

The prime minister warned Remainers that in “no circumstances” will he agree to another delay, meaning they will have to force him from Downing Street if they want to postpone Brexit beyond Oct. 31.

In a televised address outside No. 10, Johnson made it clear to the 20-plus Tory rebels plotting with Labour to thwart his plans that they would leave him with no choice but to call an election “which I don’t want and you don’t want” if they defeat the government Tuesday.

With Parliament braced for one of its most tumultuous weeks, Johnson is set to gamble his entire premiership on an election that would be fought as a re-run of the 2016 EU referendum. If he lost, he would be the shortest-serving U.K. prime minister in history.

Johnson hopes that by removing any doubt that he is prepared to go the country next month, Tory rebels, led by Philip Hammond, the former chancellor, will step back from the brink, having been told their careers will be over if they fail to support the government. The rebels want to use the vote to take control of Parliamentary business, which would enable them to force through legislation blocking no deal and delaying Brexit until at least Jan 31.

Johnson said if Parliament turns against him MPS “will plainly chop the legs out from the under the U.K.” in its negotiations with the EU “and make any further negotiation absolutely impossible.” He said progress was being made in the negotiations but “if there is one thing that can hold us back in these talks it is the sense in Brussels that MPS may find some way to cancel the referendum or that tomorrow MPS will vote, with Jeremy Corbyn, for yet another pointless delay.”

Having set out his plan to the cabinet and after addressing Tory MPS directly in a reception at Downing Street, Johnson told the nation: “I want everybody to know there are no circumstances in which I will ask Brussels to delay. We are leaving on October 31, no ifs or buts. We will not accept any attempt to go back on our promises or scrub that referendum.

“I believe we will get a deal … let our negotiators get on with their work without that sword of Damocles over their necks and without an election, which I don’t want and you don’t want.”

The next general election is not due until 2022.