UK's Johnson calls vote on holding early elections after Brexit defeat

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday called for parliament to vote in favour of holding early elections after MPs dealt a major blow against his Brexit strategy.

“There must now be an election on Tuesday, 15th October,” Johnson said after parliament voted in favour of a law that could force him to seek to delay Brexit by three months.

“There is only one way forward for the country,” he said, calling the draft law a “surrender document” that would undermine his attempt to strike a divorce deal with Brussels.

Johnson said Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn would “beg” for a Brexit delay and “accept whatever Brussels demands” if he were prime minister.

“I think it’s very sad that MPs have voted like this… I think it’s a great dereliction of duty,” he said.

Under British election law, two-thirds of MPs need to vote in favour of an early election for one to be held.

That means Johnson would need the main opposition Labour Party to vote in favour of an election, but they are resisting until the Brexit law receives final approval.

“The prime minister claims he has a strategy but he can’t tell us what it is,” Corbyn told parliament, calling Johnson’s attempt to call an election “cynical”.