Labour moves towards a later early election

The official Labour position on an early general election at the beginning of the afternoon was to support one as soon as the Benn Bill had passed and received Royal Assent. But that could change very soon.

As reported by LabourList on Monday and explored further since, Labour MPs have been expressing deep concern over the prospect of an election before October 31st. Even with the Benn Bill passed into law, most of the Parliamentary Labour Party is worried about going to the polls in mid-October.

There are a number of reasons for this widely shared anxiety. Those explanations that MPs are most happy to acknowledge openly revolve around Brexit; specifically, some fear that Boris Johnson could go ahead with no deal – even if the Benn Bill has received Royal Assent – by failing to abide by the law.

Privately, however, many Labour MPs say that they don’t hold out much hope for their party winning an election that takes place on Johnson’s preferred date of October 15th. It is generally thought that the Tory leader would run on a ‘people vs parliament’ narrative that could see him secure a mandate for no deal, having ousted any dissenters in his parliamentary party.

It is amid these considerations that Keir Starmer told the Commons from the despatch box this afternoon that Labour would not back an election until the Benn Bill had been implemented as well as passed into law.

Waiting until the Article 50 extension had been requested would mean not voting for an election until at least October 19th, which is when the Benn Bill requires the Prime Minister to ask for a delay (unless he has passed a deal or the Commons has approved of no deal). This would rule out an October election.

Good to hear @Keir_Starmer confirm at the despatch box that Labour will not back an election until the Bill preventing no deal is enacted & its provisions – including an #Article50 extension implemented.

— Ben Bradshaw (@BenPBradshaw) September 4, 2019

John McDonnell told lobby journalists after his spending round speech this afternoon that Labour was “checking the law” on whether they should wait until after Royal Assent or implementation.

What John McDonnell just told us about Labour’s position on a general election – looking at numerous options and taking legal advice, but it has to mean no no-deal Brexit. pic.twitter.com/WZsBYEMhAk

— Arj Singh (@singharj) September 4, 2019