Johnson names his date for a general election

MPs offered time to debate PM’s Brexit deal

Boris Johnson has challenged opposition MPs to back a pre-Christmas general election to break the Brexit deadlock. The prime minister last night called on MPs to “end this nightmare” and back a motion under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act to hold an election on December 12.

Mr Johnson, in what will be his third attempt to send voters to the polls, will need the support of twothirds of the Commons, 434 MPs, to get his wish on Monday.

He said: “This Parliament has been going on for a long time without a majority, it’s refusing to deliver Brexit, it’s impossible to deliver legislation.

“It’s time frankly that the Opposition summoned up the nerve to submit themselves to our collective boss, which is the people of the UK.”

Mr Johnson confirmed that, if MPs backed the plan, he would allow more Commons time for scrutiny of his Withdrawal Agreement.

He added: “I’m afraid it looks as though our EU friends are going to respond to Parliament’s request by having an extension, which I really don’t want at all.

“So, the way to get this done, the way to get Brexit done, is, I think, to be reasonable with Parliament and say, if they genuinely want more time to study this excellent deal they can have it, but they have to agree to a general election on December 12.”

The plan looked doomed to fail last night, however, as Labour, the SNP and the Liberal Democrats all signalled they would not be willing to vote for an early election.

Labour’s shadow Commons leader Valerie Vaz said the party would back an election only “once no-deal is ruled out”.

A Liberal Democrat source said the party “will not support any election until it is clear that we can avoid crashing out with no-deal”.

Western Isles MP Angus Brendan MacNeil said the SNP’s view was that

“A long time without a majority”

they wanted a general election on their own terms.

He said: “We’re halfway through a parliamentary term, we’ve got a very dangerous prime minister at the moment in a cage, caged by Parliament.

“It would be unwise to let him out, at least until we remove some of his teeth.”

Mr Johnson’s election offer comes ahead of an expected announcement from the EU this morning in which a three-month delay to the Brexit date will be offered, dooming the prime minister’s “do or die” pledge to leave by October 31.