UK moves closer to December election for 1st time since 1923

LONDON (AP) — Britain appeared on course Tuesday for an early general election that could break the country’s political deadlock over Brexit after the main opposition Labour Party said it would agree to the government’s request to send voters to the polls in December.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is pushing for a December 12 election in hopes of breaking the Parliamentary stalemate that blocked his plan to take Britain out of the European Union this month.

The EU has granted Britain a three-month Brexit extension until January 31.

With Brexit now delayed, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said his opposition party would vote in favour of an early election because the prospect of crashing out of the EU without a deal had been taken off the table.

That means the UK is likely headed for its first December election since 1923.

“For the next three months, our condition of taking no-deal off the table has now been met,” Corbyn said.

“We will now launch the most ambitious and radical campaign for real change our country has ever seen.”

“We’re going out there to win!” Corbyn told cheering supporters.

The House of Commons is voting later Tuesday on the government’s bill calling for a December 12 election.

Corbyn’s support means it is very likely to pass, although opposition politicians could press the government to alter the date by a day or two.

To win support from opposition parties, Johnson has shelved his contentious EU Brexit deal until after the election.

The Liberal Democrats and Scottish National Party have proposed an earlier election date of December 9 to reduce the possibility that Johnson could try to pass his EU divorce bill — which would allow Britain to leave the bloc and hand Johnson a major political achievement — before the campaign begins.

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