EU, UK Again Postpone Brexit, to Jan. 31

The United Kingdom will not leave the European Union on Oct. 31, after the EU and the U.K. agreed to postpone Brexit day to Jan. 31, 2020. European Council President Donald Tusk on Oct. 28 announced the Brexit “flextension,” which allows the U.K. to leave earlier if its Parliament approves a recently renegotiated transition deal. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson accepted the extension later that same day, as required by a law passed by Parliament in September (see 1909090056), a BBC report said.

Johnson immediately called for a new election on Dec. 12, but he failed to achieve the two-thirds majority required to trigger the election, the BBC reported. Johnson said he’d bring a bill Oct. 29 that would mandate a new election, and that vote will only require a simple majority rather than two-thirds support, said a report in the Financial Times.

The Liberal Democrats and Scottish National Party favor a new election, but only on terms that would prevent another vote on the withdrawal agreement prior to the new election. They want the vote to be held on Dec. 9, as it would occur while U.K. students are still at university and before they are sent home for the holidays, said a report in The Guardian. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he would consider a new election on that date.