Going rogue

3 September 2019 By Peter Thal Larsen Follow @Peter_TL

The prime minister promised to leave the EU by Oct. 31. Britain’s parliament may force him to again delay departure, and a fallback plan for an early election hinges on unlikely opposition support. Just six weeks in, Boris Johnson is running out of ways to escape the Brexit mire.

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British opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said on Sept. 3 he was ready to fight an election, but his priority was to prevent a no-deal Brexit.

When asked if he would support an election under any circumstances, Corbyn said: "We want a general election as do all the other parties."

"Under the Fixed Term Parliament Act, it's for the prime minister to introduce a measure on this or not - he hasn't done so. The priority is to prevent a no-deal exit from the EU on the 31st and we'll see what happens after that," he said.

He did not say directly if he would support a possible attempt by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to call an election: "Let’s see what happens after this legislation has gone through. And if an election is called, I am absolutely ready to fight it."

British lawmakers will on Sept. 3 try to stop Prime Minister Boris Johnson from pursuing what they cast as a calamitous no-deal Brexit, a challenge a senior government source told Reuters would prompt him to call for a snap election on Oct. 14.

The pound fell as low as $1.1959 in trading on Sept. 3.

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