Arm wrestling expected in UK Parliament in crisis

MPs resume Tuesday Westminster Road in an electric atmosphere. Conservative elected officials rebels are ready to support the opposition to prevent a brutal exit of the European Union on 31 October.

If they win a first vote Tuesday night, opponents of the no deal will be able to present a law on Wednesday to force the prime minister to ask for a further postponement of Brexit until 31 January 2020 if no compromise is reached with Brussels by 19 October and Parliament has not approved an exit without agreement.

But Boris Johnson warned Monday night that he would not accept never to ask Brussels for another postponement of Brexit. He pledged to bring his country out of the EU on October 31, renegotiated or not, and thus implement the will of the 52% of British who voted for the 2016 referendum.

If the supporters of no deal take the Parliament, the head of government will present a motion to organize parliamentary elections on October 14, warned Monday evening a government official.

This motion will be submitted to the vote of the deputies on Wednesday and will have to collect two thirds of the votes.

The Prime Minister does not want an electionsaid Tuesday a spokesman for Downing Street. However, if the deputies decide to destroy his position in the negotiations (pushing to rule out a "no deal"), and that an election takes place, this will happen before the European Council of 17 and 18 October, he said. He also dismissed fears that the government is seeking to change this date later. This will not happen, did he declare.

Suffering from political turmoil, the pound fell below $ 1.20 for the first time since January 2017.

Boris Johnson will speak in the afternoon in front of the deputies. The crucial vote for opponents of the no dealif he is authorized by the Speaker of the House of Commons, must intervene in the evening.

In the meantime, the debates will be passionate.

Suspension of Parliament

Boris Johnson has already attracted the wrath of parliamentarians from all sides deciding to suspend for five weeks the Parliament, until October 14, leaving them very little time to oppose a hard Brexit.

He also threatened to exclude the Tories from the party who would like to vote with the opposition, even though he only has a vote of absolute majority in the lower house of Parliament.

This ultimatum, however, does not seem to discourage rebels.

Former finance minister Philip Hammond, one of the conservatives fiercely opposed to a brutal divorce with the EU, said Tuesday on the BBC that there would be enough support in Parliament to block an exit without agreement.

If the Prime Minister and leader of my party does something that in my opinion is fundamentally bad, I can not continue to support it.

He expressed concern about the prospect of early elections are not the solution to our current crisis.

Possibility of early elections

Boris Johnson assures his side that he simply wants to show a front United in Brussels so as not to weaken its position in its renegotiation of the withdrawal agreement signed between former government chief Theresa May and Brussels.

In this tactical battle, Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, the main opposition party, keeps all options open, including a no-confidence motion against the government. And he said he was ready for parliamentary elections for people to decide their future.

In addition to Parliament, the battle against a tough Brexit is also going on in the courts, with several initiatives aimed at preventing the suspension of Parliament.

On Tuesday, the highest civilian body in Scotland has to consider the merits of a request to counter the suspension of Parliament by nearly 75 pro-European parliamentarians. The latter had already tried last week to counter the suspension, but their emergency appeal had been rejected.

The High Court of Northern Ireland will also consider another appeal, filed on an urgent basis on behalf of North American human rights activist Raymond McCord.

Demonstrations for early elections supported by opponents of Brexit are also scheduled Tuesday before Parliament.