The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson is proposing a General Election for the 12th of December 2019. The House of Commons will vote on whether they want a General Election on Monday the 28th of October next week. For the Election to take place, ⅔ MP’s will have to back it based on the ‘Fixed Term Parliament Act’ passed by the coalition Government in 2011.
There is speculation regarding if the General Election will happen at all as it would necessitate the vast majority of Labour MP’s to back the Election for it to take place. Jeremy Corbyn has said that he would be happy to back a General Election provided that No-Deal is taken off the table. Insinuating that if the EU accepts an extension to Article 50 then he would back a General Election before the leaving date.
But the European Union have delayed giving the United Kingdom an answer on whether they accept or reject the extension until after the UK Parliament’s verdict on the General Election. The Government’s policy is to leave the European Union on the 31st of October 2019 with or without an agreement but the Prime Minister was forced to send a request for an extension to Article 50 on behalf of the House of Commons due to the Benn Act. This means that the House of Commons’ vote on the Election will completely influence whether the European Union will accept an extension to Article 50.
However, the European Union have stated that they won’t back an extension to Article 50 if the Election is rejected as there would be no incentive to carry on with negotiations based on the deal agreed between the European Union and Boris Johnson as it was originally accepted by UK Parliament as it was passed in Parliament earlier this week.
This means that if the House of Commons rejects a General Election for the 3rd time of asking by the current Prime Minister then the European Union would reject the extension asked for by Parliament. Meaning many Remain MP’s plans to thwart Brexit may cause the European Union to reject the extension asked for by the House of Commons. This would determine that the UK would leave with no deal based on Remain MP’s and the European Union. An ultimately unlikely hero for Brexiteers.
The European Union’s decision on the extension will be made after the General Election vote on Monday 28th of October. This indicates that the House of Commons would only have 3 days to deliver the deal Boris Johnson has proposed to parliament if the European Union rejects the request for an extension. The 3 day time period would be almost impossible as Boris Johnson’s Deal will need to be scrutinised and the final copy of the Withdrawal Agreement would need to be passed.
Also, the House of Lords will take time to process the deal legally which normally takes multiple days and even if rushed through it would take a day to be processed at the quickest. The European Parliament will also need to give accent to this deal for it to be legally valid in international law. This means that if the General Election is rejected and the delay to Article 50 is rejected then the United Kingdom will leave the European Union on the 31st of October 2019.
After trying their utmost to stop Brexit, the Remain MP’s may cause a No-Deal exit on the 31st of October 2019 due to France’s constant pressure on EU member-states to either reduce the delay to the earliest possible date or rejecting the delay outright.
The European Union could just be trying to force MP’s into backing a General Election with their hope for a so-called ‘People’s Vote’ in the future but like many times before, the EU’s intimidation may turn out to be a bluff once again. The chances of the United Kingdom leaving with No-Deal are very slim but this is all Brexiteers can hope for as the Benn Act has put Britains future in the hands of foreign powers.
– Nick Mitchell (Fife, Scotland)
Opinions from the Unity News Network (UNN) editorial team & various contributors. | UNN always clearly distinguishes between news and opinion pieces and as an open minded outlet we publish views from a variety of people and organisation that do not necessarily reflect the views of UNN or its writers. Articles published under UNN Opinions are always opinion pieces and if published on behalf of a contributor will contain that authors name at the start of the piece.
