Parliament Votes Against Early Election as PM Boris Reaffirms He Will Not Seek Brexit Extension

The United Kingdom will not face fresh national elections in the short term after Parliament voted against submitting itself to the approval or otherwise of the British people for the second time, as the Prime Minister insisted he would not permit another Brexit extension and the longest Parliament in modern history was finally suspended.

In an eventful Parliamentary day, the last in this session before a fix week break into mid-October,  Boris Johnson’s minority government failed for the second time to have itself dissolved for fresh election. While the Parliamentary arithmetic has rendered the government unable to govern making in ordinary constitutiona times snap elections essential, the opposition appears to be weaponising the chaos, preventing a vote to force through a Brexit delay leading to a cancellation.

Despite Parliament voting to legally compell the government to seek a Brexit extension from the European Union, even going as far as to hold a whole emergency debate on whether the Prime Minister would follow the new law or not, Boris Johnson twice vowed he would not accept a Brexit extension.

Speaking after the snap election vote failed to pass in the early hours of Tuesday morning, the Prime Minister slammed the opposition for shirking national elections. He said:

I earlier urged the house to trust the people but once again the opposition think they know better. They want the Prime Minister to go to a vital negotiation without the ability to walk away. They want to delay Brexit once again without further reference to those who voted for it.

They have now twice denied the British people a say in an election… no matter how many devices this Parliament invents to tie my hands, I will strive to get an agreement in the national interest. This government will not delay Brexit any further. We will not allow the emphatic result of the referendum to be slowly suffocated by further calculated paralysis.

While the opposition run from their duty to answeer to those who put us here, they cannot hire forever. The moment will come when the people will finally get their chance to deliver their verdict on how faithfully this house executed their wishes, and I determined they will see it was this government who was on their side.

Parliament itself was suspended shortly after the vote on Tuesday morning, concluding the longest Parliamentary session since the English Civil War. Parliament will now not sit until mid-October.

While this move only deprives Parliament of around half a dozen sitting days as it takes place during conference season, the suspension has been met with outrage by remain plotters as it limits time available to further undermine Brexit.

Tory Brexiteer Mark Francois told the house after it moved to dodge democracy that while anti-election MPs may have felt they were being clover voting against the motion, they were only storing up problems for themselves in the future. He said: “The people on the other side of the house who think they have been very clever tonight by resisting a general election cannot hide forever from the judgement of the people. They should ask not for whom the bell tolls because eventually Mr Speaker, it tolls for them.”

As Parliament was suspended, speaker John Bercow — who today announced he would be shortly standing down — appeared to interrupt the usual ceremony of the closure to make his own speech, condemning the suspension. He said: “This is not a normal prorogation, it is not typical, it is not standard… this represents to my mind an act of executive fiat. I completely understand why very large numbers of members feel more comfortable to remain in this place.”

Having spoken, the speaker followed Black Rod to the House of Lords to hear the order read, but was followed by only half the house — most Labour, Scottish Nationalist, and Liberal Democrat members boycotting the ceremony.