LONDON (AP) British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was weighing today whether to push for an early election or try again to pass his stalled European Union divorce deal, after Parliament blocked a fast-track plan to approve his Brexit bill before the U.K.s scheduled departure from the bloc on Oct. 31.
Lawmakers backed the substance of Johnsons divorce deal in principle late Tuesday but rejected the governments plan to fast-track the legislation through Parliament in a matter of days, saying it didnt provide enough time for scrutiny.
The government is now waiting for the EUs response to its request for a three-month extension to the Brexit deadline.
European Council President Donald Tusk said in a tweet that because of Tuesdays votes in London he would recommend that the other 27 EU nations grant Britain a delay to its departure to avoid a chaotic no-deal exit in just eight days.
European Parliament President David Sassoli echoed that sentiment, saying that European leaders should accept the Brexit extension because that will allow the United Kingdom to clarify its position and the European Parliament to exercise its role.
But in London today, talk quickly shifted to holding an early election.
British Justice Secretary Robert Buckland told the BBC that Parliaments failure to break the logjam means we are left with the option of a general election … That seems to me to be the only way to break this impasse.
Britains next scheduled election is in 2022. If Johnson wants an early election, he needs to win a vote in Parliament to call for an election or lose a no-confidence vote, which so far opposition parties have refused to call.
The main opposition Labour Party, whose leader Jeremy Corbyn met with the prime minister today, said it would support a general election when the threat of a no-deal crash-out is off the table.
But some lawmakers urged Johnson to push on with passage of the Brexit bill, saying it could pass if lawmakers had time to study it properly.
I would have thought it can be done in a matter of weeks, said Labour lawmaker Richard Burgon.
Johnson won a major parliamentary victory on Tuesday when lawmakers in principle backed his Brexit plan, voting 329-299 to pass a bill to implement the divorce agreement that Johnson struck with the EU last week. But minutes later, legislators rejected his fast-track timetable by a vote of 322-308, saying they needed more time to scrutinize the bill.
Without speedy passage of the bill, Britain wont be able to make an orderly exit from the bloc on Oct. 31, a central vow of Johnsons three-month-old Conservative administration.
House of Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg conceded Tuesday that it is very hard to see how it is possible to leave the EU with a deal on Oct. 31.
Johnson had grudgingly asked the EU to delay Brexit to comply with a law passed by Parliament ordering the government to postpone Britains departure rather than risk the economic damage that could come from a no-deal exit.
