British PM Johnson Suffers Historic Brexit Defeats as Election Looms

Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson suffered a series of damaging defeats Wednesday over the government’s policy on leaving the European Union.A coalition of opposition and Conservative lawmakers are attempting to pass legislation to prevent Britain from crashing out of the European Union with no deal on Oct. 31. The prime minister insists such a law would undermine negotiations with the bloc.The bill was voted through the House of Commons, effectively Britain’s lower chamber, with the help of 22 MPs from the ruling Conservative party who voted against the government. Among the rebels was veteran MP Nicholas Soames.“[The bill] merely seeks to avert the immediate risks of a disaster of a no Brexit exit on the 31st of October and it thereby seeks to give the government and this House a further opportunity to achieve a resolution of this profoundly difficult issue,” Soames told fellow MPs during the debate.
British PM Johnson Suffers Historic Brexit Defeats as Election Looms video player.
Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks in in the Parliament in London, Britain, Sept. 3, 2019, in this still image taken from Parliament TV footage.Other parliamentary shortcutsAnalysts say Johnson could use other parliamentary shortcuts, such as a simple one-line bill, to try to force an imminent election. The prime minister received backing Wednesday from his ally across the Atlantic, U.S. President Donald Trump.“He’s in there, I watched him this morning, he’s in there fighting. And he knows how to win. Boris knows how to win,” Trump told reporters.So far, Johnson has lost four votes out of four in the House of Commons.The legislation to block no-deal is being debated Thursday in Britain’s upper chamber, the House of Lords, where opponents could seek to filibuster the bill. Britain’s political meltdown could be turning rapidly into a constitutional crisis.
 
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