Lawmakers will decide on Tuesday whether to shunt Britain toward a snap election when they vote on the first stage of their plan to block Prime Minister Boris Johnson from pursuing a no-deal Brexit.
Johnson implicitly warned lawmakers on Monday that he would seek an election if they tied his hands on Brexit, ruling out ever countenancing a further delay to Britain’s departure from the European Union.
That sets up a Brexit showdown between Johnson, who has promised to take Britain out of the EU on Oct. 31 with or without an agreement, and parliament, where a majority of lawmakers are opposed leaving without a deal.
“The one thing that is holding us back, the handbrake on getting Brexit delivered and getting the country motoring forward, is the lingering sense in Brussels that maybe the shenanigans in parliament will lead to the delay or the cancellation of Brexit,” Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said.
With 59 days to go, an alliance of opposition lawmakers and rebels in Johnson’s Conservative Party will use parliament’s first day back from its summer break to launch their attempt to block a no-deal exit.
The group will put forward a vote on Tuesday on whether to seize control of the parliamentary agenda the following day to try to pass legislation that would force Johnson to seek a three-month delay to Britain’s EU exit.
Johnson raised the stakes, however, effectively turning it into a confidence vote by making it clear that if the government were defeated, it would hold a vote on Wednesday to approve an early election, most likely to be held on Oct. 14.
An election would thrust Brexit onto an uncertain path with three main options: a Brexit-supporting government under Johnson, a Labour government led by socialist Jeremy Corbyn, or a hung parliament that could lead to another referendum.
Against the dollar, the British currency GBP=D3 fell 0.7% to a low of $1.1971, the lowest since a flash crash low of $1.1491 hit in October 2016.