Boris Johnson calls emergency Cabinet meeting at 5pm as amid snap election speculation
BORIS Johnson is gathering his Cabinet at 5pm today to war-game what will happen if he loses a crunch vote this week - as speculation grows he could call an election.
The PM is set to address all Tory MPs at a Downing Street reception just an hour later.
Paddy Power have been forced to suspend betting on a general election after a flurry of bets were placed.
No10 sources said today it was wrong for rebels to take control of Parliament "without the consent of the people"; in a huge hint that Boris is planning to go to the polls if he loses.
The BBC reported that "live discussions" are going on in No10 about whether to ask MPs to pass a snap poll.
Rebels are this week preparing to pass a fresh law to force Boris to delay Brexit yet again if he doesn't get a deal.
But the PM warned last night he would sack Tories from the party if they teamed up with Labour.
Several of them have publicly said they will ignore him to vote to stop a No Deal Brexit from happening, meaning he could end up booting 20 of them out of the party.
That would completely destroy his majority and make it near impossible to pass any Brexit deal through Parliament - or get any other laws done.
Boris' working majority is just one at the moment.
A Downing Street source said today: "They will discuss Government's response to MPs seeking to take control of legislative agenda away from Government and handing it to the opposition and Corbyn without the consent of the people."
The view from Number 10 is that the expected vote on Tuesday is "an expression of confidence in (the) Government's negotiating position to secure a deal and will be treated as such".
Boris has always said he doesn't want an election, and said the people have had enough of them.
As MPs geared up for an almighty Brxit battle in Parliament this week:
- Michael Gove hinted that Boris could just ignore such a law to stop a No Deal Brexit
- Constitutional experts said that rebels had just a few days to pass their plot - or it would fail to get the Queen's stamp of approval before Parliament is shut down
- Tony Blair urged Labour NOT to support an election in case Boris uses it to get out without a deal - as Boris will win it
- Chief rebel ringleader David Gauke said Boris was "goading" rebels with the threat of booting them out as he was preparing to lose this week's clash
Who are the Tories who could rebel and vote to stop a No Deal Brexit?
- Philip Hammond
- David Gauke
- Antoinette Sandbach
- Rory Stewart
- Alastair Burt
- Dominic Grieve
- Greg Clark
- Stephen Hammond
- Steve Brine
- Ed Vaizey
- Guto Bebb
- Nicholas Soames
- Caroline Spelman
- Oliver Letwin
- Philip Lee
- Sam Gyimah
- Richard Harrington
- Alistair Burt
- Justine Greening
- Sarah Newton
- Anne Milton
But Boris has reason to worry about calling an early vote.
Theresa May called the 2017 general election when the Tories were flying high in the polls, but then had an awful campaign and lost her majority.
That put her up on a collusion course with Tory rebels which meant she was never able to get her deal through.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368. You can WhatsApp us on 07810 791 502. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.