Politics

Boris tells Corbyn to “man up” and back a general election

Boris Johnson has told Jeremy Corbyn to “man up” as he pushes for a general election before the end of the year.

The Prime Minister ramped up the pressure on the Labour leader amid signs that the government will table a motion on Monday for a vote in December.

Speaking to journalists, he said:

“All they need to do is agree at the same time…. To an election on December 12th.

Split from top to bottom

“Now you would have thought that was a pretty good deal from the point of view of the Labour Party but they seem unaccountably to be split from top to bottom.

“We’ve got Momentum – who are the Commies who back some of the Jeremy Corbyn enterprise – saying that they want an election.

“And then you have loads of Labour MPs who don’t want an election.

“It’s time for Corbyn to man up”.

Decision on going to the polls

The Prime Minister’s comments come after the EU delayed final approval of an extension until Westminster has made a decision on going to the polls.

Speaking after the two-hour meeting of EU ambassadors, European Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva said they “have agreed to the principle of an extension” and their work will “continue in the coming days”.

The prime minister has said he would give MPs more time to consider his Brexit deal if they backed his call for an election on 12 December.

Related: Majority of voters think violence against MPs is a “price worth paying” over Brexit

Jack Peat

Jack is a business and economics journalist and the founder of The London Economic (TLE). He has contributed articles to VICE, Huffington Post and Independent and is a published author. Jack read History at the University of Wales, Bangor and has a Masters in Journalism from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

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