With 328 votes in favor and 301 against, the government of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was defeated in Parliament on Tuesday. The vote involved a motion stripping the government of control over the calendar to put a vote on today the anti-no deal law: the provision which, in the absence of an agreement as of 31 October, would oblige the prime minister to ask the EU to postpone Brexit again.
In response, Johnson announced he will file a motion to convene early elections. “I don't want the elections – she explained – public opinion doesn't want them, but it has to choose who should go to Brussels to fix this situation”.
The Leader of the Labor Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, said he was ready to vote early, but warned that he was not available to vote on the motion to dissolve the House before the approval of the anti-no-deal law. The heads of the other opposition parties are also on the same line.
Not only. Yesterday Johnson also had to cash out the transition from Conservatives to Liberal Democrats by MP Philip Lee, who justified the choice by stating that "the government pursues an unprincipled Brexit, putting people's lives and well-being at risk".
With this change of shirt, Johnson effectively lost the majority. Not to mention that the Lee case may not remain isolated.
In this final phase of the Brexit negotiations, the Labor opposition and the Tory branch are putting pressure on the prime minister to ask Europe to postpone the date of exit from the Union.
Meanwhile, a report from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development shows that a no-deal Brexit would cost Britain £16,6bn in lost exports to the EU.
From Brussels they confirm that the scenario of the uncontrolled exit of the United Kingdom from the Union is becoming more and more concrete. For this reason, in the next few hours, the European Commission will launch a final appeal for all countries to be ready to face the consequences of the no deal.
