Boris Johnson seeks to call early elections …

From London

Prime Minister Boris Johnson suffered a tough parliamentary defeat that takes away the possibility of a European Union (EU) exit without agreement. In response to the result of the motion that gives the parliament the management of the legislative agenda, Johnson said he will seek to call early elections. “I don't want a choice. This country does not need it. The opposition leader does want it. But if the House votes now in favor of a bill to avoid Brexit, I will file a motion for an early election, ”said Johnson.

The opposition leader, Labor Jeremy Corbyn (Photo)He fought the offer with forceful elegance as part of the agreement he had reached with the rest of the opposition and the conservative dissidents. “We will first approve this bill that will prevent the exit of the European Union without agreement. Then we will have a general election, ”said Corbyn.

The Labor leader has the pan by the handle. The call for an early election requires the approval of two thirds of the House of Commons. Last night it became clear that there is no chance that Johnson will approach that number without Labor votes.

The result was celebrated by a crowd outside the House of Commons with “Stop the Coup” banners and European Union flags. The defeat of the government was wide enough (328 to 301) to predict that it will be repeated when the House of Commons votes the bill that would be a definitive blow to Johnson's plan to leave the EU on October 31 with or whitout deal.
The day had all the condiments imaginable, until the theatrical change of party of a deputy who deprived Johnson of his former parliamentary majority in full debate. While the prime minister uttered one of the many threats he wielded this week against dissenting deputies, Conservative Phillipe Lee (Photo) "Crossed the floor", that is, in view of everyone, as in a reality show, he crossed from the Tory bench to that of one of the opposition parties, the Liberal Democrats, in disagreement with the policy that is leading Johnson since he took office in late July. "I cannot believe in what the Conservative Party has become, the role it is fulfilling in deepening the division, in squandering a reputation for seriousness and in the total blindness with which it is leading the country," Lee said in a statement.

The prime minister filled his cabinet with the most intransigent pro-Brexit, suspended parliament from September 10 until mid-October and threatened deputies who allied themselves with the opposition by expelling them from the party. In the parliamentary debate he used a war vocabulary not recommended in the British political label to accuse Corbyn of virtual collaboration. “We are making progress in negotiations with the European Union. But if this law is voted we tie our hands. This would force me to go to Brussels to ask for an extension and to accept what they offer me. This is Jeremy Corbyn raising the white flag. It is what he wants. Surrender (… surrender …) and there is no Brexit, ”said Johnson. "Surrender" is a word loaded with the whole history of the Second World War. "We shall never surrender," Winston Churchill said in a historic speech on June 4, 1940 before the possible Nazi invasion. Equipping the current situation with that of the Second World War, the EU with Nazism, the opposition leader with a virtual collaborator and the dissenting deputies of his bank with traitors, has been one of Johnson's tactics that, far from to give result, they ended up consolidating and expanding the alliance of the opposition and the conservatives. The shot went out through the butt. In the event that the opposition's bill is approved by the Commons on Wednesday, it will go to the House of Lords on Thursday. Normally the lords have unlimited time for discussions, but in a true master touch, the opposition coordinated with the leader of the lords, Labor Angela Smith, so that the vote will take place on Friday afternoon at the latest. In case they vote in favor, there would be enough time before the suspension of parliament next week for the Queen to sign the law with the Royal Assent.

If Johnson does not take a rabbit out of the galley to prevent the bill from being passed, he will have no choice but to ask Brussels for an extension of the deadline for leaving the European Union until January 31, 2020. In this context. The call for elections is inevitable, as Johnson himself anticipated, could be October 14.

In the average of the polls the conservatives today have 33% of the votes, Labor 25% and Liberal Democrats 18%. But the situation is very fluid, most of the polls are prior to the announcement of the suspension of parliament and, in any case, no one trusts the pollsters, except in a non-proportional electoral system like the British in which the number of votes as much as the number of seats obtained. In case there is a choice, it will be necessary to see if Johnson wins that bet or if it is the last one he makes.