British PM Johnson calls for December 12 election to break Brexit deadlock

Prime Minister Boris Johnson called on Thursday for a general election on Dec. 12 to break Britain’s Brexit impasse, conceding for the first time he will not meet his “do or die” deadline to leave the European Union next week.

Johnson said in a letter to opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn he would give parliament more time to approve his Brexit deal but lawmakers must back a December election, Johnson’s third attempt to try to force a snap vote.

Corbyn said he would wait to see what the EU decides on a Brexit delay before deciding which way to vote on Monday, repeating that he could only back an election when the risk of Johnson taking Britain out of the EU without a deal to smooth the transition was off the table.

With other opposition parties rejecting the election offer, it was increasingly unlikely that Johnson’s latest bid to replace a parliament that has repeatedly put hurdles in his way would be successful.

Just a week before Britain was due to exit the EU, the bloc looks set to grant Johnson a Brexit delay, something he has repeatedly said he does not want but was forced by parliament to request.

An election is seen by his team as the only way of breaking the deadlock over Brexit after parliament voted in favor of his deal at the first stage, but then, minutes later, rejected his preferred timetable which would have met his Oct. 31 deadline.

But he has twice failed before to win the votes in parliament for an election, where he needs the support of two-thirds of its 650 lawmakers.

“This parliament has refused to take decisions. It cannot refuse to let the voters replace it with a new parliament that can make decisions,” he wrote to Corbyn.

“Prolonging this paralysis into 2020 would have dangerous consequences for businesses, jobs and for basic confidence in democratic institutions, already badly damaged by the behavior of parliament since the referendum. Parliament cannot continue to hold the country hostage.”

Corbyn, a veteran critic of the EU, said he wanted to wait until Friday to see what Brussels had decided to do with Britain’s request for a delay - something Johnson was forced to ask for by parliament.