Boris Johnson pushes Britain to brink of an election: Here's what could happen next - CNBC

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson is driven away from the Houses of Parliament after attending an emergency debate on a no-deal Brexit in London on September 3, 2019

OLI SCARFF | AFP | Getty Images

Market focus is firmly on U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's next move after a majority of U.K. lawmakers voted Tuesday to take control of parliamentary business.

The result sets up another key vote in parliament on Wednesday on whether to block the government from proceeding with a no-deal Brexit on October 31, if no Brexit deal is agreed by that date.

The legislation being put forward by opposition and "rebel" Conservative Party lawmakers on Wednesday would force the prime minister to request another delay to Brexit, to January 2020, in a bid to stop him from taking the U.K. out of the EU on Halloween "come what may," as he pledged.

The move by lawmakers put parliament on a collision course with Johnson's government. Johnson had hoped to keep the prospect of a no-deal scenario on the table in a bid to strengthen his hand in last-ditch negotiations with the EU to get amendments to the Brexit deal on offer.

What happens next is uncertain, with various potential scenarios including a possible snap election – the timing of which could largely determine the direction Brexit takes given the default position is that the U.K. leaves the EU on October 31 — if the government does not request a further delay — with or without a deal.

Johnson said Tuesday that he would put forward a motion to hold a snap election, although he needs two-thirds of parliament to approve a vote. A vote of no confidence in the government could also be tabled by the opposition.

After hitting a level not seen since October 2016 on Tuesday, sterling rose following the vote to trade at $1.2123 on Wednesday.

UK election ahead?

The prime minister responded to the vote Tuesday evening telling a packed House of Commons (the lower chamber of Britain's Houses of Parliament) by saying it was "on the brink of wrecking any deal that we might be able to strike with Brussels."

The dramatic day in British politics on Tuesday also saw a Conservative Party MP defect to the opposition, leaving Boris Johnson without a working majority in parliament.

Opposition lawmakers want assurances that legislation to block a no-deal Brexit, if approved on Wednesday, would be passed before any election is held. A no-deal departure is seen as the most turbulent Brexit scenario as it means an abrupt overnight separation from the EU without a transition period in place.

Legislation to stop a no-deal Brexit, even if approved by parliament on Wednesday, would need to be approved quickly by the House of Lords, the upper chamber of Britain's Houses of Parliament, before parliament is suspended on Monday 9 September until mid-October. 

It has been reported that the government could try to bypass legislation requiring a two-thirds majority to approve a snap election, but this is deemed unlikely. It has even been mooted that Johnson could call a vote of no confidence in his own government and then call on his MPs to abstain from the vote although this is seen as extremely unlikely.

Andrew Adonis, a Labour Party peer in the House of Lords and a former government minister, told CNBC's "Capital Connection" he was confident the House of Lords would approve legislation to stop a no-deal Brexit.

"The House of Lords is usually very sedate because we're meant to be the reflective chamber but I can assure you, passions are running extremely high," he told CNBC's Willem Marx on Wednesday.

"The overwhelming majority do not want to see a disorderly Brexit …So the bill will go through the (House of) Lords, the question is what Boris Johnson now does," he said.

"His move to have an election is certainly going to be stopped this week. It requires the consent of two-thirds of the House of Commons and he's not going to get close to that. There will not be any consent to an election before a no-deal Brexit is dead and buried."

Adonis, a Remain supporter, added that there was "a very low level of trust in parliament at the moment with Boris Johnson … and I think we're in for a deep and ongoing political crisis."

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2019-09-04 07:10:54Z
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Boris Johnson pushes Britain to brink of an election: Here's what could happen next - CNBC

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson is driven away from the Houses of Parliament after attending an emergency debate on a no-deal Brexit in London on September 3, 2019

OLI SCARFF | AFP | Getty Images

Market focus is firmly on U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's next move after a majority of U.K. lawmakers voted Tuesday to take control of parliamentary business.

The result sets up another key vote in parliament on Wednesday on whether to block the government from proceeding with a no-deal Brexit on October 31, if no Brexit deal is agreed by that date.

The legislation being put forward by opposition and "rebel" Conservative Party lawmakers on Wednesday would force the prime minister to request another delay to Brexit, to January 2020, in a bid to stop him from taking the U.K. out of the EU on Halloween "come what may," as he pledged.

The move by lawmakers put parliament on a collision course with Johnson's government. Johnson had hoped to keep the prospect of a no-deal scenario on the table in a bid to strengthen his hand in last-ditch negotiations with the EU to get amendments to the Brexit deal on offer.

What happens next is uncertain, with various potential scenarios including a possible snap election – the timing of which could largely determine the direction Brexit takes given the default position is that the U.K. leaves the EU on October 31 — if the government does not request a further delay — with or without a deal.

Johnson said Tuesday that he would put forward a motion to hold a snap election, although he needs two-thirds of parliament to approve a vote. A vote of no confidence in the government could also be tabled by the opposition.

After hitting a level not seen since October 2016 on Tuesday, sterling rose following the vote to trade at $1.2123 on Wednesday.

UK election ahead?

The prime minister responded to the vote Tuesday evening telling a packed House of Commons (the lower chamber of Britain's Houses of Parliament) by saying it was "on the brink of wrecking any deal that we might be able to strike with Brussels."

The dramatic day in British politics on Tuesday also saw a Conservative Party MP defect to the opposition, leaving Boris Johnson without a working majority in parliament.

Opposition lawmakers want assurances that legislation to block a no-deal Brexit, if approved on Wednesday, would be passed before any election is held. A no-deal departure is seen as the most turbulent Brexit scenario as it means an abrupt overnight separation from the EU without a transition period in place.

Legislation to stop a no-deal Brexit, even if approved by parliament on Wednesday, would need to be approved quickly by the House of Lords, the upper chamber of Britain's Houses of Parliament, before parliament is suspended on Monday 9 September until mid-October. 

It has been reported that the government could try to bypass legislation requiring a two-thirds majority to approve a snap election, but this is deemed unlikely. It has even been mooted that Johnson could call a vote of no confidence in his own government and then call on his MPs to abstain from the vote although this is seen as extremely unlikely.

Andrew Adonis, a Labour Party peer in the House of Lords and a former government minister, told CNBC's "Capital Connection" he was confident the House of Lords would approve legislation to stop a no-deal Brexit.

"The House of Lords is usually very sedate because we're meant to be the reflective chamber but I can assure you, passions are running extremely high," he told CNBC's Willem Marx on Wednesday.

"The overwhelming majority do not want to see a disorderly Brexit …So the bill will go through the (House of) Lords, the question is what Boris Johnson now does," he said.

"His move to have an election is certainly going to be stopped this week. It requires the consent of two-thirds of the House of Commons and he's not going to get close to that. There will not be any consent to an election before a no-deal Brexit is dead and buried."

Adonis, a Remain supporter, added that there was "a very low level of trust in parliament at the moment with Boris Johnson … and I think we're in for a deep and ongoing political crisis."

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2019-09-04 07:09:10Z
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A Bahamas fisherman had to watch helplessly as his wife drowned - CNN

The water rose quickly, he told CNN, and soon it was up to their necks.

"We were doing all right until the water kept coming up, and all the appliances were going around the house, like the washer machine," said Armstrong, who is a crab fisherman.

His wife, Lynn, was standing on the kitchen cabinets, the only place where "your head would touch the roof," he said. Only their heads were above the water.

After hours of waiting in the flooded house for rescue, Armstrong's wife succumbed to hypothermia and slipped under the water.

"And then I kept with her, and she just drowned on me," he said, breaking down.

When the storm finally released its devastating hold on the Bahamas on Tuesday, seven people were known to have died -- all on the Abaco islands, east of Grand Bahama -- and officials fear the death toll will rise sharply as more accounts like Armstrong's come to light.

"She was gone so quickly," Armstrong said as he waited for his wife's body to be recovered.

Armstrong said he then "took a chance" and swam outside the house to his boat, which was moored nearby.

"I saw my boat was still there, and I swam," he said.

Armstrong said he'd lived in Freeport for 58 years and had "battled many a hurricane," but had never seen flooding like this.

"Everything I own is gone," Armstrong said. "Every single thing."

Patrick Oppmann reported from the Bahamas and Theresa Waldrop wrote in Atlanta.

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2019-09-04 04:55:00Z
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'Anti-democratic and unconstitutional': Corbyn and Johnson clash over no-deal Brexit - Guardian News

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2019-09-03 17:21:58Z
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Showdown set for British Parliament as legislators return from summer recess - The Washington Post

Daniel Leal-Olivas AFP/Getty Images The E.U. flags of anti-Brexit activists fly as pro-Brexit activists stand with their placards and demonstrate near the Houses of Parliament in central London on Sept. 3, 2019.

LONDON — Rebel members of Britain’s Parliament were poised Tuesday for a legislative showdown with Prime Minister Boris Johnson by seeking a three-month Brexit delay, a move that Johnson has warned would trigger a snap general election in mid-October.

Johnson surprised the political opposition, including a faction from his own Conservative Party, on Monday by signaling that he would seek a mandate from voters if legislators successfully block Britain’s departure from the European Union on Oct. 31.

The showdown is happening in Parliament, which returns from its summer recess Tuesday after days of legislators accusing each other of attacking British democracy and raucous street protests calling Johnson’s moves a “coup.”

Johnson enraged the opposition by ordering Parliament to be shuttered again, for five more weeks starting as early as Monday, as the country is debating its most serious political crisis in decades.

Several legal challenges have been filed against Johnson’s move to suspend Parliament. A court in Scotland was scheduled to hear arguments Tuesday from lawyers representing 75 opposition lawmakers who want to prevent the suspension.

[How Boris Johnson’s push toward a no-deal Brexit is playing out in the E.U.]

In a sign of the economic uncertainty caused by the political turmoil, the British pound dropped to its lowest level against the dollar since October 2016.

Johnson’s threat of a snap election is aimed as much at his own party as at the opposition led by Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn. On Monday, Johnson said he would kick Conservative members of Parliament out of the party if they voted against his Brexit plans — meaning they would be unable to run as Conservatives in any upcoming election.

Unlike his predecessor Theresa May, who did everything she could to keep her party together, Johnson is pursuing tactics apparently aimed at uniting the Brexit vote and steering Britain out of the bloc, even if that means trimming his party by shedding dissenters.

Niklas Halle'n

AFP/Getty Images

British Conservative MP and former chancellor of the exchequer Philip Hammond arrives at the Cabinet Office on Whitehall in central London on Sept. 3, 2019.

That has already caused some remarkable splits in the party. On Tuesday, Philip Hammond, who was Britain’s finance minister only a few weeks ago, told the BBC that he would back legislation to delay Brexit and that there were “enough” Conservative rebels for it to pass.

He also questioned whether Johnson and his allies could kick him out of the party, saying they would have the “fight of a lifetime” if they tried.

A general election, which Johnson allies say could happen on Oct. 14, could either sink Johnson’s government or give him a popular mandate to push his promised “do or die” Oct. 31 Brexit. It could also propel Corbyn, a nationally unpopular leftist and vocal critic of President Trump, into the prime minister’s job, creating more uncertainty about Brexit and relations with Washington.

Taken together, all the threats and maneuvers have created an extremely volatile and emotional political drama in Westminster, London’s political center, as Parliament convenes on Tuesday.

Corbyn has said his priority for the day is to introduce emergency legislation to block Britain from leaving the E.U. without an agreement in place to regulate trade, border security and other critical issues — the so-called no-deal Brexit.

[Britain’s Johnson threatens to purge rebel party members as Brexit battle heats up]

Most lawmakers in Parliament oppose leaving without an exit plan, something many analysts say could be economically damaging and lead to food and medicine shortages. Johnson has dismissed those predictions as fearmongering.

A cross-party group of a dozen members of Parliament plans to propose legislation seeking a three-month extension of the Brexit deadline, according to a draft of the proposal circulated Monday evening by Labour legislator Hilary Benn.

First they would have to win a procedural battle allowing them to introduce the bill under emergency conditions.

Johnson on Monday accused his opponents of seeking “yet another pointless delay.”

“There are no circumstances in which I will ask Brussels to delay. We are leaving on 31 October, no ifs or buts,” he said.

Simon Dawson

Reuters

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson addresses the media outside Downing Street in London, Britain, Sept. 2, 2019.

Tuesday morning, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told the BBC that the delay legislation was “deeply irresponsible and counterproductive.”

“We cannot countenance any further delay because it stops the country from moving forward,” he said.

The House of Lords would also have to approve any delay legislation. Shami Chakrabarti, a Labour Party member of the Lords, told the BBC on Tuesday that she would support the bill and the result.

“Of course we want a general election,” she said. “We are geared up for it. We want it as soon as possible.”

Johnson also said that any delay would disrupt progress on negotiations with the E.U. over an exit deal. And he said it would undercut the government’s negotiating position.

Hammond said Johnson was being “disingenuous.”

He said there is “no progress” in negotiations with the E.U. because the government has put forward “no proposals” and there is not even a negotiating team.

[What Boris Johnson’s move to suspend Parliament means for Brexit]

If Johnson calls a snap election, he will need the backing of two-thirds of Parliament. Normally that would be easy, because the opposition would be enthusiastic about an opportunity to unseat him at the polls.

But Labour’s position is not completely clear. At a rally on Monday, Corbyn expressed enthusiasm, saying: “I will be delighted when the election comes. I’m ready for it.”

But other Labour lawmakers have said that now is not the time. Mary Creagh, a Labour politician, told the BBC that a general election is not the answer at the moment. Creagh said she worried that Johnson could schedule the election for sometime after the end of October, which would mean that Britain would “crash out” of the E.U. on Oct. 31, by default.

“We will not be complicit in crashing our country out without a deal,” Creagh vowed.

Johnson has also sought to counter Corbyn by promising large spending increases for education, health and other services. Corbyn for years has railed against Conservative Party austerity.

Johnson could also face stiff competition in an election from his right flank, particularly from Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party. Johnson says he wants to strike a deal with the European Union, even though he would leave without a deal. Farage, a Brexit hard-liner, argues that Britain should leave regardless of the terms.

Read more

The shadowy strategist behind Boris Johnson’s Brexit push

Could Boris Johnson’s ‘no-deal’ Brexit break up the United Kingdom?

Former British leader joins bid to derail shuttering of Parliament amid Brexit crisis

Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news

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2019-09-03 10:09:23Z
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Hurricane Dorian threatens the US: Live updates - CNN

The coastal city of Stuart, Florida, is starting to feel the effects of Hurricane Dorian, which has stalled 100 miles away above Grand Bahama.

"We are getting the periodic outer rain bands that come in and literally smack us with strong, gusty, tropical storm force winds. Brief, heavy rainfall. And a few flashes of lightning, as well, in the distance, from time to time," said CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam in Stuart.

"There's also been transformers that have blown behind us, as well. We're fortunate to have electricity still at this hotel where we're at."

Weaker also means larger: Stuart is facing the threat of storm surges, flooding, and coastal erosion. Van Dam also warned that though the storm has gotten slightly weaker, going down to a Category 3, it will also get larger as tropical force winds expand from the center.

"As it gets closer and closer to the Florida coastline, it means we'll feel more and more of the winds. The threats there, obviously, gusts that could take down some tree limbs and electrical poles as well," Van Dam said.

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2019-09-03 09:15:00Z
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Hurricane Dorian threatens the US: Live updates - CNN

The coastal city of Stuart, Florida, is starting to feel the effects of Hurricane Dorian, which has stalled 100 miles away above Grand Bahama.

"We are getting the periodic outer rain bands that come in and literally smack us with strong, gusty, tropical storm force winds. Brief, heavy rainfall. And a few flashes of lightning, as well, in the distance, from time to time," said CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam in Stuart.

"There's also been transformers that have blown behind us, as well. We're fortunate to have electricity still at this hotel where we're at."

Weaker also means larger: Stuart is facing the threat of storm surges, flooding, and coastal erosion. Van Dam also warned that though the storm has gotten slightly weaker, going down to a Category 3, it will also get larger as tropical force winds expand from the center.

"As it gets closer and closer to the Florida coastline, it means we'll feel more and more of the winds. The threats there, obviously, gusts that could take down some tree limbs and electrical poles as well," Van Dam said.

Watch more here:

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2019-09-03 08:09:00Z
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