Boris Johnson's bid for early election fails

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has lost a second attempt in the House of Commons to force an early general election. The motion, which needed a majority of two thirds to pass, fell far short of that threshold.

Only 293 MPs voted for the motion, with 46 against. Johnson needed the support of two-thirds of MPs (at least 434) to trigger an early election.

After a lengthy debate, MPs are now filing into the voting lobbies to have their say on Boris Johnson's motion.

He's asking to be granted an early general election -- but a united front from opposition parties is set to hand him another parliamentary defeat.

Voting will take about 15 minutes.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's motion for an early general election is getting a predictably frosty reception from opposition lawmakers during the House of Commons debate.

"Any general election must be undertaken in a period of calm, with an orderly approach, not in a period of national crisis," Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson said.

"The Prime Minster is playing at this. In his speech tonight, he made it sound like this was sport, like this was a game. This is not a student debating society. This is about the national interest," she added.

Earlier, the SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford told Johnson "we’ve had enough of this dictatorship," and warned him "his days in office are numbered."

The vote on Boris Johnson's snap election motion has yet to take place, but as anyone who's ever worked on a newspaper knows, deadlines are deadlines.

Tomorrow's front pages tell the story of a divided nation.

The Conservative-supporting Daily Telegraph, of which Johnson was recently the highest-paid columnist, has focussed on Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow's decision to stand down on the same day Brexit is delivered. The paper has been a long-term critic of the Speaker for what it sees as his anti-Brexit bias.

The Daily Mail goes a step further, with one of its highest-profile columnists calling Bercow a "partisan pipsqueak who disgraced his office."

However, the Financial Times takes a more nuanced view, saying that the Speaker has stood up for the House of Commons and given it teeth during difficult times. This is the view of many remain-supporting lawmakers.

Back to the politics, and the left-leaning Guardian gives its lead story to Johnson's defeat in the Commons, which will force his senior aides to hand over private communication on the government's decision to suspend Parliament.

Leading left-wing tabloid, the Daily Mirror, calls Johnson "Britain's worst prime minister," and goads him for his numerous losses.

And finally, The Times reflects on a marathon sitting in Parliament, reflecting on the fact the the longest sitting of Parliament yet resulted in yet another humiliation for the new Prime Minister.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the "only conclusion" that can be reached on Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit strategy "is that the government’s pretensions to negotiate are nothing but a sham."

"The Prime Minister knows full well there is no mandate for no-deal, no majority support for it in the country, and no majority support for it in this House," he said, speaking during a debate in the House of Commons about calling an early election.

"This is a very serious issue -- the Prime Minister is running away from scrutiny with his blather and his shouting,” he said to laughs from the government benches.

Corbyn quoted Michael Gove in March of this year saying the British people didn’t vote to leave with no deal, and notes Gove is now in charge of no-deal Brexit planning.

“I want to turf out this reckless government,” Corbyn said. But added: “A general election isn’t something for the Prime Minster to play about with for propaganda points, or even his very poor quality posts on social media.”

In his response to Prime Minister Boris Johnson's speech calling for an early election, Jeremy Corbyn said his Labour Party want an election -- but not if it involves risking a no-deal Brexit.

"The only point of any importance that the Prime Minister has just included in his speech is his clear indication that he does not intend to follow the law that has just been passed that requires him to ask for an extension in certain circumstances," Corbyn said.

"No deal has been taken off the table."

"I want an election, as the Prime Minster pointed out … I don’t retreat from that at all. We are eager for an election," he added.

"But as keen as we are, we are not prepared to risk inflicting the disaster of no deal on our communities our jobs, our services, or indeed our rights."

"No deal would not be a clean break. It would not mean just getting on with it. It would start a whole new period of confusion and delay."

"The leader of the opposition cannot lead, he cannot make a decision. He cannot work out whether he is for Brexit or against it," Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the House of Commons during a debate on holding an early general election.

"Perhaps their next policy will be whether to have a referendum on whether to have a referendum."

"If you really want to delay Brexit beyond October 31... then vote for an election and let the people decide if they want a delay or not," he said to Corbyn.

"If you refuse to do that tonight I will go to Brussels on October 17 and negotiate our party … hopefully with a deal, but without one if necessary," he said.

"I will not ask for another delay," he insisted, again signalling his desire to ignore the law that he must ask for an extension if he cannot achieve a deal.

"We know the real reason why Labour don’t want a general election" under Corbyn's leadership, Boris Johnson tells the House of Commons. "Most of the don’t want a general election because they fear that their party will lose."

Then, in a jibe at internal divisions within Corbyn's party over his leadership, he adds: "But there is small, terrified minority of Labour MPs who don’t want an election because they actually think he might win."

"The common thread joining all these parties is their extraordinary belief that the national interest requires them preemptively to protect the British people from the consequences of their own democratic decisions," Johnson says.

"They only believe in democracy when it delivers the response that they want."

Then, when Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow interjects to ask lawmakers to keep it down, Johnson responds with a bit of trademark theatricality, lifting up the microphone behind the dispatch box to cheers from his backbenchers.

MPs in Westminster may be debating into the early hours, but Brussels isn’t losing any sleep over Brexit. 

Tuesday is a big day for the European Union as its executive arm, the European Commission, is set to announce its new line up of commissioners.

The make up of the body – the EU’s de-facto cabinet – will say a lot about Europe’s post-Brexit landscape. The new commissioners will take up their roles on November 1st, a day after the UK is set to leave the bloc. The UK has not fielded a candidate.

This, as Downing St continues to pursue a policy of dialogue but disengagement with Europe.

Among EU circles, there is a sense Boris Johnson is running down the clock until the very last moment.

And an extension – whether he is willing to follow parliament’s instruction and ask for one – isn’t guaranteed either, with France’s foreign minister suggesting his country could play hard ball at the EU Council Summit on October 17.