Boris Johnson’s Conservative government and his senior government advisors are currently having “very real and very live conversations” about the possibility of calling a snap General Election within the next 72 hours, it has emerged.
According to the BBC’s Political Editor, Laura Kuenssberg, senior government officials could propose a bill in Parliament to force a General Election as soon as Wednesday.
Speaking on the BBC’s Politics Live programme, Kuenssberg stated:
“Sources have suggested to me that there are very live and very real conversations happening at the moment about whether or not the government should ask MPs to back the idea of a General Election in the next 72 hours.
Kuenssberg then went on to state that if MPs do manage to change the law to prevent a No Deal Brexit in the next few days, it could be the trigger for Boris Johnson to call a snap election:
“So this story about chucking out Tory MPs who won’t vote with the government is enormous, and aggressive, and almost unprecedented – I think you have to go back to 1918 for an example for what was known then as a ‘Coupon Election’. And in actual fact it was something that was suggested quietly – almost jokingly – under Theresa May’s government, but it was sort of laughed off when I talked to Ministers about it. One of them would mention it in conversation and they would say ‘oh no no we’d never do anything as radical as that!’
So that is enormous and could be the start of a fracturing, or a splintering, of the Conservative Party. But it may well be that if rebels manage to change the law this week [to prevent a No Deal Brexit] that it is the trigger for us to be in a General Election campaign very soon.”
You can watch Kuenssberg’s revelation below:
There are "very real, very live conversations happening at the moment" on whether or not the government should call an election "in the next 72 hours", says Political Editor @BBCLauraKhttps://t.co/YDa9R72zOO #politicslive #Brexit pic.twitter.com/eL2imI186y
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) September 2, 2019
The Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, has consistently stated that the party would vote in favour of a General Election, should one be called.
Two thirds of MPs – known as a supermajority – need to back a General Election bill for it to pass.
