Labour piles pressure on Jeremy Corbyn to block Boris Johnson from holding a snap election
JEREMY Corbyn was last night under overwhelming pressure from his own party to block Boris Johnson from holding a snap election.
The Labour leader yesterday declared he is “ready for a general election” and warned he could still call vote to try to topple the PM.
Speaking in Salford, he challenged BoJo to a vote saying: “We want a general election so the people of this country can decide their future.”
But furious MPs warned they will not vote for an election if polling day is after October 31 as Boris could use it to force through a No Deal Brexit.
Shadow cabinet ministers used a group away day in Salford yesterday to warn their boss they want to force through legislation to delay Brexit before backing an election.
While Gordon Brown and Tony Blair both publicly demanded Mr Corbyn pour all his energy into delaying Brexit.
Shadow Brexit Minister Jenny Chapman told the BBC: “Our mission is very clear and it’s about preventing No Deal.
“And if that means a general election cannot happen at that particular point, then stopping No Deal must come first.”
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Under the Fixed Term Parliament Act, two thirds of MPs must vote for a snap election – meaning Boris needs Labour votes to call one.
But the Labour whips office was inundated with calls from seething MPs demanding they only back an election after MPs delay Brexit.
Labour MP Ben Bradshaw said: “My Labour colleagues would not vote for a general election if there is any possibility Boris Johnson could engineer a crash out Brexit at the end of October as a result.”
Gordon Brown warned: “All our efforts should be directed at this stage to stop this crashing out of the European Union on October 31.”
And giving a speech in London, Tony Blair warned Mr Corbyn not to walk into an “elephant trap” of another election.
He sensationally admitted that Mr Johnson would probably lead the Tories to a “comfortable majority” after promising to deliver Brexit “do or die”.
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The arch-Remainer said Brexit was down to Britain’s obsession with the Second World War which cast a “long shadow over the British psyche”.
And he compared Brexit Britain to a losing football club – warning that the UK negotiating a trade deal with the US will be like “Man City playing Port Vale”.
He then quickly corrected himself to say Britain is a Premier League team “like Newcastle”.
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