“The Prime Minister said that if MPs agreed to the pre-Christmas poll he would reintroduce his Brexit Bill and give Parliament until Nov 6 to pass it. It means Mr Johnson has finally abandoned his “do or die” pledge to get Britain out of the EU by Oct 31, with Nov 15 earmarked as a potential new date for Brexit if Parliament agrees to his deal. He called on Mr Corbyn to “summon up the nerve” to let voters decide who should take the country forward by voting on Monday for a snap poll, or condemn Britain to “paralysis”. It left Labour in disarray, with Mr Corbyn fudging his response by saying he would back an election once no deal was “off the table”, and hinting he would make his final decision today. However, Labour whips had already sent out instructions to MPs to abstain in Monday’s vote to deny Mr Johnson the “super majority” of two thirds of all MPs to trigger an early election. Momentum, the pro-Corbyn campaign group, backed an election, saying “bring it on”. Ian Lavery, the party chairman, was among figures understood to be urging Mr Corbyn to accept. Labour MPs will also be under immense pressure from constituents desperate for a decision on Brexit. Mr Johnson has threatened to effectively mothball Parliament if Monday’s vote falls.” – Daily Telegraph
“Jeremy Corbyn was keeping Boris Johnson’s hopes of an early general election alive last night despite massive pressure from his own party. Mr Corbyn said that no final decision had been taken on the prime minister’s proposal, in which he offered MPs more time to pass his Brexit deal in return for a general election. However, moments earlier Labour’s chief whip had sent the party’s MPs instructions that they should abstain on Monday’s vote — preventing Mr Johnson from securing a poll. The confusion highlighted divisions within Mr Corbyn’s inner circle, who want an election, and the bulk of his MPs, including many in his shadow cabinet, who believe that a winter election before Brexit is resolved would be a disastrous mistake. The European Union indicated that it would delay a decision over the length of any Brexit extension until next week. It is thought that the French are demanding clarity over whether an election will take place. Mr Johnson said in a letter to Mr Corbyn setting out his offer that a further Brexit delay would “cause misery to millions” and politicians had a “duty to end this nightmare”. If MPs voted for an election on December 12, the prime minister said, he would allow parliament more time to deal with legislation enacting the revised agreement with the EU.” – The Times
“Sajid Javid has announced that he is pulling his budget less than 24 hours after insisting that it was going ahead. The Treasury said last night that the decision to push for an election on December 12 meant the November 6 budget would no longer take place. Hours earlier Mr Javid had insisted the budget was “on track”, in response to suggestions from No 10 that it could be cancelled. It has been suggested that Mr Javid is “chancellor in name only” and is being kept out of the loop. Boris Johnson is prepared in effect to go on strike, postponing all but essential business if parliament refuses to back his deal. The prime minister will pull his EU withdrawal agreement and instead repeatedly table motions calling for a general election to increase pressure on the opposition. “Every day, every moment in the chamber will be about if we are willing to deliver Brexit,” a government source said. “Parliament is stuck: it doesn’t want Brexit; it is unwilling to go to the people with a general election.” – The Times
“Boris Johnson’s programme for government was approved by MPs minutes after he announced that he wanted to dissolve parliament and hold a general election. The Queen’s Speech was passed by 310 votes to 294, a majority of 16, despite the prime minister no longer having a viable Commons majority. The prime minister’s legislative programme was endorsed by the Democratic Unionist Party, despite their clashes with Mr Johnson over his Brexit deal. Mr Johnson was also backed by 18 former Conservative independents, including MPs such as Dominic Grieve and Justine Greening who want to secure a second referendum, and those such as Sir Nicholas Soames and Greg Clark who back his Brexit deal. If Mr Johnson gets his way it is unlikely that any of the proposed bills will complete their passage through parliament before the next Queen’s Speech. Straight after the result was announced Jacob Rees-Mogg, leader of the Commons, revealed the government’s plans for an election vote to be held on Monday. It prompted Tom Brake, a Liberal Democrat MP, to ask: “The leader of the House wants a general election on December 12. Can he explain to the House what the purpose of the Queen’s Speech was?” – The Times
“A study, based on polling by YouGov, found 71% of Leavers in England, 60% in Scotland and 70% in Wales, believed violence towards MPs was a ‘price worth paying’ for Brexit. Among Remainers, 58% in England, 53% in Scotland and 56% in Wales considered violence towards MPs was a ‘price worth paying’ for Britain to stay in the EU. The survey’s co-director Professor Richard Wyn Jones said he was ‘genuinely shocked’ at the findings carried out by researchers from Cardiff University and the University of Edinburgh. The findings come among concerns among MPs on both sides of the debate that they are facing rising levels of abuse and threats from members of the public. The murder of Jo Cox in June 2016 by a far-right extremist has recently been cited by MPs who believe that heated Parliamentary rhetoric surrounding Brexit is fuelling public anger.” – Daily Mail
“Search engine giant Google has been accused of pro-Remain bias after analysts found that the BBC and Guardian websites dominated results for searches related to Brexit. They studied the first page of search results this month for 5,000 words and phrases related to the EU referendum. The BBC, which has been accused by Leavers of anti-Brexit leanings, accounted for by far the biggest tranche of results at 30 per cent, according to Searchmetrics, an analytics company. The Guardian, which is pro-Remain, was the second most prominent news source, on 12 per cent. The Telegraph, the best-represented pro-Brexit news outlet, accounted for only 4.2 per cent of results. Stephen Bench-Capon, a marketing manager at Searchmetrics, said: “As the readers of different newspapers have very different views on Brexit, the prominence of The Guardian means that the search results are more likely to feature pro-Remain coverage, with pro-Brexit reports in the Daily Express, Telegraph or Sun appearing less frequently. ” – The Times