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There appears to be some division in the Labour ranks on the question of whether they would welcome a general election.
Speaking at a rally in Salford last night, Jeremy Corbyn said Labour was ready to “take the fight to the Tories”.
“I am proud to lead our party, I’m proud to take the fight to the Tories and I will be delighted when the election comes. I’m ready for it, you’re ready for it, we’re ready for it, we’ll take the message out there and above all we will win for the people of this country.”
However, Labour’s shadow Northern Ireland secretary Tony Lloyd later appeared to contradict his leader, saying Labour would first push to have legislation passed blocking a no-deal Brexit.
“We will in fact work through the parliamentary process to make sure that this law is passed,” Mr Lloyd told BBC Two’s Newsnight.
“Obviously once we’ve guaranteed that we pass October the 31st and don’t have a no-deal Brexit, of course we want an election.”
Labour MP for Kingston upon Hull North, Diana Johnson, tweeted this morning that she “will not be supporting any attempt by the PM to force a General Election at this time of national crisis.”
Need more of your senses engaged with Brexit news? The Guardian’s Jonathan Freedland has joined Anushka Asthana on our daily podcast Today in Focus to discuss a pivotal week ahead in British politics.
Good morning and welcome to politics live on what is shaping up to be a day of high political drama.
A coalition of cross-party MPs are expected to put forward legislation today that would force Boris Johnson to request a delay to Brexit.
The bill, which the MPs hope to push through parliament at high speed if they seize control of the Commons timetable, would require Johnson to extend departure until 31 January, unless MPs backed a deal or approved no deal.
However, Johnson issued an ultimatum to rebel MPs saying that if they were to push ahead with the bill, he would call a snap general election next month – something Jerebyn Corbyn says he is delighted about.
Johnson made the announcement in a televised address outside No 10 that was punctuated by protesters crying out “stop the coup”. He said there were “no circumstances” under which departure from the EU would not happen on 31 October.
Johnson said the backbench bill, signed by the former chancellor Philip Hammond, the ex-justice secretary David Gauke and others, would “chop the legs out” from the UK’s Brexit negotiations.
Today could be a very significant day, as the success or failure of the vote on the bill slated to be brought before parliament will have a huge impact on the shape of the weeks to come.
I’m Kate Lyons and will be at the helm of the blog for the first little while, before handing over to my colleagues. I do a lot of live-blogging and this is hands down the most lively, interactive group of readers I get the occasional privilege of blogging to, which makes things much more fun, so please get in touch – via the comments, on Twitter or via email (kate.lyons@theguardian.com) with your thoughts, questions, jokes etc.
Deep breath in, let’s go!
Updated
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