Labour ready to support Boris Johnson’s bid for December election, Corbyn says

Britain’s Labour Party has agreed to support Boris Johnson’s proposal for an early election, which is likely to be held before Christmas.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has backed an election, after telling his shadow cabinet that the party’s condition of removing the possibility of a no-deal Brexit has been upheld.

“Today, after much denial and much bluster by the Prime Minister, that [no-deal Brexit] if officially off the table,” Corbyn said, “So this country can vote for the government it deserves.”

Corbyn promised “the most ambitious and radical campaign for real change [the UK] has ever seen.”

Boris Johnson put forward a bill for an election on 12 December, which bypasses the Fixed Term Parliaments Act and only needs the support of a simple majority in parliament.

MPs, however, voted in favour of a proposal which makes it easier for them to propose amendments on the government’s early general election bill, which includes an expected attempt at giving 16-year-olds the vote.

The development comes after Boris on Monday accepted a Brexit extension until 31 January, as he urged EU leaders not to grant further delays.

The “flextension” was approved by the other 27 member states, and gives the UK the possibility to leave the bloc sooner if its withdrawal deal is approved.