We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
LAST UPDATE | 4 Sep 2019
BRITISH MPS HAVE voted against holding a general election on 15 October.
MPs backed the government motion by 298 votes to 56 votes.
However, the required two-thirds majority (434 votes) was not met as 214 Labour Party members abstained. Three Labour MPs voted for the bill and 28 against.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson tabled the motion after MPs earlier voted in favour of a bill which, if passed in the House of Lords, will extend Brexit until at least 31 January 2020 (if a deal is not agreed by 19 October) in an attempt to avoid the UK leaving the European Union without a deal.
MPs backed the bill by 327 votes to 299 votes.
Johnson said the bill was “without precedence in the history” of the House of Commons and its passage amounted to “forcing him to surrender in international negotiations”.
“I refuse to do this … therefore there is is only one way forward,” he said when announcing earlier this evening that he would push for a general election.
Speaking after the result of the election motion, Johnson said: “48 hours ago, [Corbyn] was leading the chants of, ‘Stop the coup, let the people vote’. Now he’s saying, ‘Stop the election and stop the people voting’.”
I think he has become the first leader of the opposition in the democratic history of our country to refuse the invitation to an election.
“I can only speculate as to the reasons behind his hesitation. The obvious conclusion is, I’m afraid, that he does not think he will win.”
‘Snow White’s apple’
The Labour Party earlier said it would back an election once the threat of a no-deal Brexit is removed.
Prior to the vote on the election motion, Corbyn said:
The offer of the election today is a bit like the offer of an apple to Snow White from the wicked queen. What he’s offering is not an apple or even an election, but the poison of a no deal,” Corbyn said prior to the vote on the general election.
Corbyn criticised Johnson’s perceived lack of strategy, saying “he can’t tell us what it is”, adding: “The bigger problem for him is that he hasn’t told the EU what it is either.”
“At prime minister’s question time today, as with the statement yesterday, he was unable to say whether he has even made any proposals whatsoever to the EU.
“Basically, it’s a policy cloaked in mystery like the emperor’s new clothes. There really is absolutely nothing there,” Corbyn added.
With reporting by Orla Dwyer
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
I maybe off the mark but I reckon Boris wants to halt the DUPs say on Brexit. If he can form a government without them after GE, then do a deal with EU that would give NI dual status which would give best of both worlds to NI and prevent a hard border. Boris doesnt care if NI is treated differently to the rest of UK, only DUP care. Without them having control they can do a deal and thankfully get the hell out of the EU as we are all tired of this circus!
@Susie: it’s a poor reflection on his leadership if he has to go to the people to change that. If he showed a bit of honesty it would save a lot of bullsh!te
@Ned Flanders: he could do that now since lost the majority, could push that old bill May tried but couldn’t get beyond the DUP who were propping her up. If Boris tries push this through or the thought of it and then calls an election he’ll get back without the DUP needed and also get a deal across and through parliament and be seen as the guy who got it all done. If he’s planned this out you got to say, fair play to him. Otherwise he’s just been lucky if it falls that way. Or he’ll plough on the way he is at the minute which could be the polar opposite to that!
@ThatLJD: Yes the DUP are now irrelevant. However the hard Brexiteers hate the deal (even without the backstop) so he would have to rely on Labour votes (no idea what their current portion is on the deal). Apparently the Withdrawal Agreement will come back via Kinnock amendment which goverment allowed to pass unchallenged…
@Susie: I don’t think BJ gives a fiddlers about the DUP, his aim has been to get to a General Election with Brexit as the sole or main issue on the table, rather than go for another referendum.
And Corbyn and the Labour party have played right into his hands today.
At every point during leaders questions today he called the bill they were voting on as Corbyns Surrender Bill.
It wasn’t aimed at those in Parliament but the voters around the country.
If the label resonates with the electorate, then he could galvanise support for the party by portraying Labour as the lackeys of the EU.
It could turn out that the events of this week have been exactly how Johnson has planned it.
@Susie: it could be the case. The DUP no longer hold any power and as a consequence a border can be placed in the Irish sea. Win win
@Garry Coll: Oh please – Dominic Cummings (an unelected bureaucrat who broke electoral law during the referendum) is running the show!
@Susie: he’s going to throw the DUP under the bus… :)
@Susie: Boris wants a no deal brexit to go ahead so all his hedge manager friends and other rich bottomhole aristocrats will profit hugely from this manufactured crisis by buying up big when the uk economy tanks and selling when it inevitably picks up again, a few years down the track. Of course the rest of the population will have suffered greatly, but Boris really doesnt care – he got to be Prime Minister!
@MGrey: There is someone like Cummings in every administration, we all remember the malign influence of Mandelson before he found a constituency.
But it’s just a point of view.
Nobody knows how it’s going to pan out.
You will probably disagree, but I think that what has happened this week so far will strengthen Johnson rather than diminish him.
Everyone is sick of Brexit and want closure.
Boris offers that, Corbyn’s plan is to prolong the suffering.
Which will the electorate go for do you think, draw a line and move on with Johnson, or vote to extend your misery with Corbyn.
When will it end !
@Kerrie Roche: 15th October it appears now.
@iohanx: If only!
@iohanx: unlikely.
@iohanx: no ways they can have an election before 31st. Farage and Boris will make UK leave Eu and we know what that entails. Farage and Tory would be in power, albeit for a few months. The lefties are playing a blinder and are trying to block no deal with little regard of their own jobs. Keeping Boris in minority power without a majority until the 31st is a necessity!!!!
@Gavin Scott: yep. Check mate. Stay in power and have no mandate
@Gavin Scott: wait to see what House of Lords does with Benn bill, if approved Labour will roll in behind for election on 15th
@Kerrie Roche: Not for decades yet. Whatever happens the Brits are a deeply divided people and will be for years to come. It is getting more polarised by the day over there. Listening to British radio this week and some of the venom directed at other contributors is just vile. They really are a horrible class of people at times like this.
Johnson will ditch the DUP and agree to a Northern Ireland only backstop which Labour will support. He will then get his election.
@Symbolism: the DUP will just pull out of government. Making any possible deal impossible to pass
@Oliver Jumelle: lol
The whole point is if they did agree a deal with labour, then they wouldn’t need the DUP to pass it, their 10 votes would be irrelevant
@Oliver Jumelle: Their majority is already gone. The DUP deal is dead.
ORDER……….
@ᑕOᑎOᖇ GᒪᗩᑎᑕY: I think your keyboard is broken, even your name is in caps lock
@ᑕOᑎOᖇ GᒪᗩᑎᑕY: And…the Eu is not inclined to give another extension beyond 31 Oct….
Anarchy in the UK.
@ThatGuy: lunacy in the UK! I blame contaminated water table, they’ve all gone barking!
Should have have us back six counties years ago net they wish they had lol
Insanity on a national level.. anyone?
Followed by a nice glass of delusion juice and a shot of arrogance and unicorn dust to wash it down
Looks like Boris is looking to ditch the DUP. Northern Ireland gaining dual status would then be a possibility to back stop solution. What a deal for the ordinary person in Northern Ireland who is only interested in better opportunities and standard of living, theyd have a Hong Kong scenario. Dream stuff, a land of milk and honey.
Do you think the writers of the final season of Game of Thrones are looking at the Brits thinking ‘Now that’s how you do a f#cking ending!’
I’m lost
@Kerry Cavanagh: These are the final convulsions of a country finally waking up to the hard reality of Brexit having for years now been sold a narrative not based on economic reality but on idealogical innuendo and false optimism based upon, well nothing really.
As a final straw BJ may have to table a vote of no confidence in himself. It would be an utter humiliation but it might be the only way he can force an election.
@John O’Connor: he wouldnt win that motion either. The opposition will not vote for the motion and he doesnt have the numbers in Parliament. I am very wary of the SNP, their leader is a bit of a loose cannon and is already looking for an earlier election date than the other opposition parties because she knows the SNP are nailed on to win nearly every seat which will essentially help clear the way to a 2nd independence referendum. If they cant get a date in October legally secured they need to hold off for a general election.
Worse than Coronation st
@Andy: not possible.
Yawnnnnn
Ken Clarke for PM
General election will give the full mood of the people. Remainers may have served their time…
@Willy: but more likely leavers have woken up to the mistake they’ve made
Borris to get a majority on the 15th and the UK will leave on the 31st of October even though all the left will media will be saying the opposite building up to it.
@Ciaran O ‘Reilly: please gawd NO! Boris is a dictator
@Ciaran O ‘Reilly: Boris can’t muster a simple majority now, he will never get the 2/3s he needs to call a quick election by 15th October. Only after the Benn Bill passes which will make a no deal Brexit on 31st Oct illegal will labour support a new election.
@Ciaran O ‘Reilly: all the left media will be saying the opposite – er only because your point is very wide of the mark to what is actually happening – they have seized control of the house , passed a bill for to take no deal off the table and will refuse to vote for an election until the no deal bill is passed and it is guaranteed that BJ cannot manipulate the election date and try a fast one…..so yep i guess the media will be saying the opposite to what you are claiming ffs..
@Ciaran O ‘Reilly: simple. No election on the 15th. Saving the UK more important
Id have Boris over JC anyday, I hope humble pie is dished out in a few years and the brits go marching on…..
@Boris Becker: why ?
@Boris Becker: anybody but BJ and JC. Liberal dems and Greens unite?
@Paula Mackie Senior: the Lib Dems are worse hypocrites than the Tories. Labour are the only ones who’ve voted against the austerity that has had a devastating impact on low to middle income earners, the NHS, mental health services, etc.
@Boris Becker:
That’s a really bizarre position to hold. After all Bojo’s publicity aired antics, peccadilloes, character flaws and behaviors which would render anyone else unsuitable for any public service job let alone PM you still think he’s superior to the leader of the opposition?
@Kevin: bring on the pie…… The EU has rode us for long enough..I hope Boris and Britain can show us what can be done without the germans and CO. Calling the shots
@Boris Becker: I think you will find that Britain where instrumental in writing a lot of the EU constitution…
@EillieEs:
You sure about Labour?
- Created bedroom tax
- Lied about Iraq
- Sold a hospital to the Private Sector
- Brought in disability assessments
- Built no houses
- Started Tuition fees
- Closed 252 mines
- Didn’t read Lisbon Treaty
- Created the zero hour contract
- Signed over 100 PFI contracts
Wouldn’t trust those delusional Commies to make a cup of tea.
I’d prefer if it never happens, but if it is to happen, let’s hammer down a date.
I need to prepare.
Hotel California.
@Tim Nelligan: Only nothing stopping the Uk leaving the Uk except for the Uk. When they get real close to the day of leaving reality kicks in in, blind panic and trepidation, as they know they will never get a deal with the Eu as good as the one they have right now. For the Eu to exist it can never be equally or more attractive not to be a Member and the other Eu27 countries do want the Eu to exist benefitting from free trade and common rules for all kinds of products which greatly stimulates trade. In the old days every country had their own individual standards and regulations which prohibited trade to a huge degree.
@Tim Nelligan: except that’s not true,
The UK could have left by now, nothing has stopped them only their own government.
What the UK cannot have is the benefits of the EU, when they’ve left the EU.
Lol
Up the B/low J/obs….. This man will run his country into greatness, It might take a couple of years but once they rid of EU dictatorahip it’ll be Boris and the boys (and girls) who will have the last laugh!!
I hope we follow suit one day!!
@Boris Becker: don’t give up the day job (if you have one), your comedy routine is stupid rather than funny.
@Boris Becker: Hilarious.
@Boris Becker: on here with a fake account pretending to be Irish, get a life will ya.
Could we please reach out to Donald Trump for advice in these difficult times?
Why did they vote against it? Surely this is the most democratic thing to do?! Let the ppl decide. Remainers have been saying all along that the people do not want a no deal Brexit. Boris will go away if he loses. If he wins he can storm ahead with his deal/no-deal plan.
@Jack Simpson: labour knows they will lose an election .boris and brexit party will win
@Jack Simpson: AFAIK, if they voted to have an election, Boris gets to set the date and could easily set it for after the 31st October. Yes, he’d already said an election would be around the 15th October but he’s a lying sack of shit and they don’t trust him to keep his word.
@Jack Simpson: To make sure no deal was off the table. The timeline is too short for an election. They have said they will vote for an election once the Benn bill is passed into law.
@Denise Gerrard: there is no evidence of that at all. 100k applications processed this week alone in the UK for voting cards, the majority of which are people under 35. The last election we have data from to analyse were European elections. This election was contested on Brexit. The Tory vote simply transferred to the Brexit party. The Greens, Lib Dems and Labour took the majority of the seats. Despite Farrages attempt to say the vote was a clear endorsement for Brexit it was anything but. We saw the results of the last GE in the UK and Corbyn performed a lot better than expected, a large part of the reason for this was that the UK press is forced to give equal coverage to parties and labour policies when they’re covered are not disliked by the public. In preparation for this election Labour have specifically put forward policies in relation to 3rd level tuition fees. That combined with anti Brexit sentiment of younger voters will be a big draw. You also now have 21 ex Tory mp’s some of whom will stand as independents and potentially bleed Tory votes away from the party in constituencies that are traditional Tory strongholds. The outcome of a general election is anything but certain at this point. I have also been watching the US democratic nominations with interest and the policy platforms of the top 3 candidates. There is no doubt that US politicians are starting to generate policy to attract young voters because these voters are now becoming more and more active in elections. I think the UK election will also see a much bigger impact from younger voters than is historically the Case. It will be interesting to watch. One thing is certain, the EU and the Irish Government were absolutely right not to budge an inch on the withdrawal agreement. The UK government had absolutely o leverage whatsoever. The chances of a no deal are fast rescinding and the UK will ultimately come to the table. They may even ratify May’s original deal with the backstop now that the DUP are essentially defunct.
It’s already been rejected lol
@RJ: obvs rejected. Must be
Britain’s Trump, he must be wrecked he didn’t get an election and call in the Russians to help
Blue on Blue makes great viewing
Brexit the movie coming soon to Netflix
We should reject having a budget, giving away money 4 weeks before we crash. Should be a case of wait an see.
BoKIP even more ineffectual than Tresemme
My opinion is that no one in parliament wants to leave the EU they are playing trick with the uk people and will by default remain in the EU and then each leader will blame the other and we are the Suckers listening to them
British society is starting to crumble and rightly so.. This is what happens when a nations parliament no longer respects the democratic will of the People to Leave the EU
have your say