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E.U. Agrees to Brexit Extension, Pushing Deadline to Jan. 31
Johnson Loses First Attempt to Call Election in Latest Brexit Maneuver
(about 2 hours later)
BRUSSELS — With just three days left until Britain is scheduled to leave the European Union, the bloc will extend the deadline by three months, to Jan. 31, one of its leaders said on Monday.
Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, said in a Twitter post that leaders of the 27 other European Union countries had agreed to the postponement. They were expected to formally grant it later Monday.
LONDON — Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain failed Monday in his first bid to secure backing for a general election. But he seemed on track to prevail in a follow-up attempt later in the week, which would toss the fate of his Brexit campaign from the European Union to the British electorate.
Mr. Tusk referred to the delay as a “flextension,” meaning that Britain can leave the bloc before Jan. 31 if the British Parliament passes all the relevant legislation.
Mr. Johnson’s latest day of one-step-forward, one-step-back progress began when the European Union extended the deadline for Britain’s departure by three months, to Jan. 31. Mr. Johnson accepted the extension, formalizing that he had broken his promise to lead Britain out of the union at the end of October.
Britain is currently scheduled to withdraw on Thursday. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has negotiated withdrawal terms with Brussels, but so far he has been unable to get Parliament to approve the deal. That raised the prospect that Brexit could occur without a deal in place, which economists have warned could do serious damage.
But it also opened the door to an election, which he has been angling for since he became prime minister in July. With his Conservative Party leading in the polls, Mr. Johnson views a pre-Christmas election as a way to amass a solid majority in Parliament and a popular mandate for his policy of a swift Brexit.
Top diplomats from European Union member countries convened Monday morning to reach the decision. Last week, France insisted that Britain be granted an extension only until the end of November, just enough time to allow Mr. Johnson to try once again to push his agreement through Parliament.
In the parliamentary maneuvering on Monday, Mr. Johnson absorbed yet another defeat. The Labour Party, lagging in the polls and divided about the merits of holding a quick election, refused to back his motion to call one for Dec. 12, denying him the necessary two-thirds majority to put it on the calendar.
Most European leaders are eager for Brexit to happen, but the view prevailed that they should allow events in London to play out, rather than forcing political developments by granting a short extension.
That defeat, which had been widely expected, did not stop the government from pressing for an election. Mr. Johnson immediately said he would introduce a bill to circumvent the 2011 law that requires a two-thirds majority in Parliament to schedule an election, so it would only need a simple majority.
A longer postponement would allow British lawmakers time to examine the deal that Mr. Johnson struck with Brussels, or give him time to hold general elections in a bid to break the Brexit deadlock in Parliament.
With the support of the Liberal Democratic Party and the Scottish National Party, that motion would likely pass, opening the door to a vote in December. After months of deadlock in Parliament, the question of when and how Britain should leave the European Union would effectively go back to the British people.
With the European Union granting an extension, the focus now shifts back to the British Parliament, where Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party and the opposition parties are jockeying frantically in advance of an expected election.
“I don’t believe that this paralysis and stagnation should be allowed to continue,” Mr. Johnson said during a raucous debate in the House of Commons, after his initial motion went down to defeat.
Mr. Johnson, who has been eager to go to the voters since he became prime minister in July, is expected to ask Parliament later Monday to schedule an election for Dec. 12. But under a 2011 law, he would need the support of two-thirds of the House of Commons to do so.
Earlier, borrowing an analogy from across the Atlantic, Mr. Johnson accused the opposition of behaving like Lucy, Charlie Brown’s bait-and-switch friend, in the “Peanuts” comic strip, appearing to cooperate on advancing legislation only to torpedo it at the last minute.
The Labour Party, which is deeply divided on the merits of holding an election now, is likely to reject Mr. Johnson’s motion. Analysts said that the situation was fluid and that Labour could shift, particularly since the party’s leader, Jeremy Corbyn, is viewed as more open to a campaign than some of his rank-and-file members.
“We’re all like Charlie Brown,” he said, “endlessly running up to kick that ball, only to have Parliament pull it away again.”
Over the weekend, a new strategy emerged that could give Mr. Johnson another route to a vote. The Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party said they would back a one-line amendment to the 2011 law, known as the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, that would allow an election on Dec. 9, now that the European Union has offered an extension until Jan. 31.
The Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, said he would not support Mr. Johnson’s call for an election on Dec. 12 because in his view the prime minister was not trustworthy. He also cited a variety of more tactical reasons, including the lack of daylight in early December and that university students — who are thought to be more hostile to Brexit — will have gone home for Christmas holidays by then, and would therefore not vote.
Each party has its own reasons for wanting a quick vote. The Liberal Democrats are eager for an election before Britain leaves the European Union because they are running on a platform of revoking Brexit altogether. That message would be rendered irrelevant in any election held after Britain had already left.
“The reason I’m so cautious is that simply, I do not trust the prime minister,” Mr. Corbyn said. “Every promise this prime minister makes, he abandons.”
The Scottish National Party would like an election as soon as possible because its former leader, Alex Salmond, faces trial next year on charges of attempted rape and sexual assault — an unpalatable backdrop for its campaign.
If Mr. Johnson is on the threshold of an election, that raises the possibility of an end to the Brexit deadlock. Britons could either vote to give Mr. Johnson a majority big enough to push through his Brexit plan, or opt for parties that want a second referendum on withdrawing from the European Union.
Mr. Johnson and his allies are likely to hammer away on the need for an election if Labour resists, blaming Labour for the prime minister’s inability to keep his promise to leave the European Union on Oct. 31, “do or die.”
Matina Stevis-Gridneff contributed reporting from Brussels.
The Conservatives view a campaign as a way to paint Mr. Corbyn as afraid of facing the voters, and believe that they have the momentum.
Matina Stevis-Gridneff reported from Brussels, and Mark Landler from London.
