Boris Johnson calls opponents cowards, plans new election bid

LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister Boris Johnson kept up his push for an early election as a way to break Britain’s Brexit impasse, as lawmakers moved to stop the U.K. leaving the European Union next month without a divorce deal.

Johnson suffered another setback as his own brother quit the government on Thursday, saying it was not serving the national interest.

Johnson remained determined to secure an election, after lawmakers on Wednesday rejected his attempt to trigger a snap poll.

House of Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg told Parliament that a vote would be held Monday on a new motion calling for an election.

Johnson’s office said the prime minister would appeal directly to the public, arguing in a speech later that politicians must “go back to the people and give them the opportunity to decide what they want.”

He called Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn’s refusal to endorse an election a “cowardly insult to democracy.”

Johnson’s determination to lead Britain out of the EU on October 31, come hell or high water, is facing strong opposition from lawmakers, including members of his own Conservative Party who oppose a no-deal Brexit.

Boris Johnson became prime minister in July after promising Conservatives that he would complete Brexit and break the impasse that has paralysed the country’s politics since voters decided in June 2016 to leave the bloc, and which brought down his predecessor, Theresa May.

But after just six weeks in office, his plans to lead the U.K. out of the EU are in crisis.

He is caught between the EU, which refuses to renegotiate the deal it struck with May, and a majority of British lawmakers opposed to leaving without an agreement. Most economists say a no-deal Brexit would cause severe economic disruption and plunge the U.K. into recession.

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