Latest Brexit News: Boris Johnson Wants Parliamentary Elections Dec. 12

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson fired the latest salvo in the Brexit debate, calling for elections before Christmas.

Johnson, in a letter to Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn, said he will give Parliament one last chance Nov. 6 to approve the deal he worked out divorcing the United Kingdom from the European Union. Parliament Tuesday initially approved the deal but then balked at Johnson’s three-day timetable for final approval (normally treaties are held and debated for 21 days).

“An election on 12 December will allow a new Parliament and government to be in place by Christmas. If I win a majority in this election, we will then ratify the great new deal that I have negotiated, get Brexit done in January and the country will move on,” Johnson wrote.

https://twitter.com/BorisJohnson/status/1187400002412396545?s=20

Johnson had said he’d rather be “dead in a ditch” than extend Brexit beyond the current Oct. 31 deadline. The other 27 members of the economic alliance are to decide Friday just how long they’ll wait for parliamentary action with French President Emmanuel Macron pushing for a tight Nov. 15 date and other countries willing to wait until Jan. 31. Any extension could come with conditions attached, like a concrete timetable.

"All agreed on the need for an extension to avoid a no-deal Brexit. The duration of an extension is still being discussed," a European source told reporters, according to AFP.

British voters decided in 2016 to sever ties with the EU, chafing at restrictions imposed by the alliance.

Some Labour backbenchers are seen as reluctant to support elections, hoping instead for a second referendum on the issue. Labour already has blocked two previous attempts to call elections, saying it would not agree until a no-deal Brexit had been ruled out.

"So, the way to get this done, the way to get Brexit done, is, I think, to be reasonable with Parliament and say if they genuinely want more time to study this excellent deal, they can have it but they have to agree to a general election on 12 December," Johnson said.

Ratification of Johnson’s deal would open the way for a round of negotiations on a comprehensive EU-U.K. trade deal.