British MPs reject early general elections

LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government was left in limbo on Wednesday after MPs voted to derail his Brexit plan and rejected his call for an early election to break the political deadlock. But in yet another twist in the tortuous Brexit process, the opposition Labour Party refused to vote for the election, which requires the backing of two-thirds of MPs. With the opposition Labour Party abstaining, only 298 MPs voted in favour of holding an election -- far short of the 434 threshold needed to trigger a national vote. 

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said that while he wanted an election, he would not support the prime minister’s "cynical" call until the law blocking "no deal" was implemented. The default legal position is that Britain will leave the EU on October 31 unless it delays or asks to stay in the bloc.

Earlier, the Conservative leader was hit by a huge rebellion among his own MPs that leaves him without a working majority in the House of Commons as he looks to take Britain out of the EU on October 31.Twenty-one Conservatives joined opposition MPs to begin the process of drafting legislation that could stop a "no deal" exit by delaying the departure date by three months.

The prime minister had earlier warned that rebels who voted against him would be expelled from the party, while one other Conservative, former minister Philip Lee, dramatically defected to the pro-European Liberal Democrats. Addressing braying MPs immediately after the vote, in which the government was defeated 328 votes to 301, Johnson said he had no option but to move to call an early general election.

Shouting to make himself heard, he warned the rebels' proposal would hand control over Brexit to Brussels, causing "more delay and more confusion" in the already tortuous departure process. Aides had previously said any poll would be held before a crucial EU summit on October 17 and 18.