Robert Peston Robert Peston

Why Boris Johnson should request a Brexit delay from the EU

Boris Johnson wants a general election now.

Jeremy Corbyn and Nicola Sturgeon both say they want an election but not till after they are sure that the provisions of the Benn Act have been effective and the UK is NOT leaving the EU without a deal on October 31.

As far as I can see the only way for Johnson to break the impasse is for him to do precisely the opposite of what he has promised.

He should request a Brexit delay from the EU – and for the explicit purpose of fighting an election to determine whether or not the British people would give him a mandate for a no-deal Brexit.

If he fails to call the bluff of Corbyn and Sturgeon in that way, he will very likely find the decision is taken from his hands, because a growing number of MPs from all parties are coming to the view that a Brexit referendum would be preferable to a general election.

Robert Peston
Written by
Robert Peston
Robert Peston is Political Editor of ITV News and host of the weekly political discussion show Peston. His articles originally appeared on his ITV News blog.

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