Prime Minister Boris Johnson called today for a general election on December 12 to break Britain's Brexit impasse.
Johnson said in a letter to opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn he would hand parliament more time to approve his Brexit deal but that lawmakers must back a December election.
Just a week before Britain was due to leave the European Union, the bloc looked set to grant Johnson a Brexit delay, something he has repeatedly said he does not want but was forced to request following a vote by parliament
An election is seen by his team as the only way of breaking the deadlock over Brexit after parliament voted in favour of his deal, but then, just minutes later, rejected his preferred timetable which would have met his Oct. 31 deadline.
But he has twice failed to win the votes in parliament for an election, where he needs the support of two-thirds of its 650 lawmakers.
The main opposition Labour Party has repeatedly said it will only back an election when it is sure that he cannot lead Britain out of the EU without a deal.
"We will make available all possible time between now and 6 November for the WAB (Withdrawal Agreement Bill) to be discussed and voted through ... this means we could get Brexit done before the election on 12 December," Johnson wrote in a letter to Corbyn, posted on Twitter.
"But if parliament refuses to take this chance and fails to ratify by the end of 6 November, as I fear it will, then the issue will have to be resolved by a new parliament."
