Splits in Cabinet and No10 over an election before Brexit is sealed

SPLITS have emerged among Boris Johnson’s Cabinet and Downing Street aides over whether to push for a snap election or try one more time to get the Brexit deal through Parliament.

Dominic Cummings, the Prime Minister’s most senior adviser, wants Mr Johnson to call a vote on an election as soon as the EU grants an expected extension to Article 50, with Nov 28 or Dec 5 pencilled in as likely dates.

But Sir Edward Lister, his chief of staff, is understood to favour accepting a short Brexit delay to get the deal through Parliament before taking that victory into a mid-december election.

Similar divisions have emerged among Cabinet ministers, some of whom have warned the Prime Minister that gambling on an election risked Brexit being reversed. The EU is not expected to reveal its decision on an extension until tomorrow, after Emmanuel Macron, the French president, insisted Britain should only be given until Nov 15 to get the Brexit deal through Parliament. If he refuses to back down, EU leaders will have to meet at an emergency summit next week to decide their answer.

Mr Johnson insisted in phone calls to Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, Leo Varadkar, the Irish Taoiseach, and

Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, that he did not want an extension as he still believed Parliament would pass the necessary legislation by Oct 31 if the only other option was no deal.

However, all 27 EU member states have agreed to grant an extension, with most favouring a three-month “flextension” until Jan 31. If Mr Macron is granted his wish, Downing Street sources suggested Mr Johnson could have one more go at getting his deal through. He met Jeremy Corbyn yesterday to discuss a timetable for the deal, but the meeting was described by one source as “a total waste of time”.

During the meeting Mr Johnson reportedly began discussing dates for debating the Bill, only for Mr Cummings to interject: “We’re not doing that.” Downing Street denied this.

Mr Johnson has made it clear he would push for an immediate election if a three-month delay was foisted on him. Mr Cummings and other Downing Street aides who formerly worked with him on the Vote Leave campaign believe the current parliament will never pass the Brexit legislation and want to

get on with an election. A No10 aide said yesterday: “If we go into an election with a deal, we can say to the electorate ‘vote for us and Brexit will be done in days’.

“The alternative would be a Jeremy Corbyn government that would delay Brexit for months to hold a referendum that could end up with Brexit being cancelled.”

Cabinet ministers including Sajid Javid, Gavin Williamson, Dominic Raab, Priti Patel and Jacob Rees-mogg are among those urging Mr Johnson to go to the polls.

But Julian Smith, the Northern Ireland Secretary, said he wanted to “resolve this situation” by agreeing a timetable with opposition parties to get the deal through Parliament.

Andrea Leadsom, Nicky Morgan and Theresa Villiers were among ministers understood to share his view.

A government source admitted there were talks on the various scenarios but denied there had been “arguments”. If the EU announces a decision today, the PM could table a vote on Monday or even ask the Commons to sit tomorrow to vote on an early election under the Fixed Term Parliaments Act. But it was uncertain he could get enough Labour MPS to back an election even if Mr Corbyn put a whip on MPS.

Whitehall sources said Plan B would be for the Government to accept a confidence vote, or even table one itself, requiring a simple majority of MPS to express no confidence in the Government to topple Mr Johnson.

Mr Corbyn would then have 14 days to try to form a Government, and if he could not, an election would be held 25 working days later, possibly on Dec 16.

Meanwhile, Mr Johnson was accused of “appalling” behaviour after cancelling a scheduled appearance today before the Commons liaison committee. He said he needed to “focus on Brexit” – but it meant he would also avoid difficult questions, including over his ties to US businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri.