Isn’t a general election the only logical way forward ? Why are MPs being so childish and pedantic about a few days’ difference ?
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There are some complications if I understand it correctly. Some of which is related to the ability of students to vote in the place they are registered which will be lost by the later date and also to prevent BloJo still crashing out without a deal by slight of hand…
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One thing I haven’t seen discussed much is that for either December date there won’t be time for Brits living abroad to arrange postal votes.
Hope you all have your proxy votes set up!
As for crashing out - election, holidays, no more debate on wab until into January, back to where we were but with 31 Jan looming as crash out day instead of 31 Oct…
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Yes Anna, that’s what I’m thinking. More time will be lost as the new clock runs down…
There is no way another extension will be granted I feel.
All this because Bojo would not allow the MPs proper time to scrutinise the legislation of his deal 
I wonder why he didn’t/wouldn’t??
I think you know the answer to that Stella!
We now have MPs saying openly in Parliament that the PM can’t be trusted, and there isn’t even a murmur of protest because everyone knows it’s true. What is that telling us about UK ethical standards?
Agree Graham but looking at a fewUni sites the Xmas break starts from the 9th to the 21st December depending on the Uni.
Maybe the opposition would prefer a January election ? I don’t get it, Corbyn seems to be delaying the inevitable imo.
I actually agree with Boris on this one thinking that Corbyn should “man up” and face the electorate.
It’s a sad day when even ex PM Blair feels his party is unelectable !
I actually think Blair marked the beginnings of smoke and mirrors and image and “spin” carrying more weight in politics than policies and integrity. Did we ever question a PM’s hionesty and integrity and motives before Blair? Maybe we did but I don’t remember it. And since Blair, lies have become standard. So I think he needs to look at himself and the part he played in changing the face of politics, before blaming those who are suffering the consequences.
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The few days difference is also something to do with Johnsons ability to squeeze through a no deal.
Election is not worthwhile yet, 1st a confirmatory referendum then have as many elections as you like.
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Agreed but a second vote won’t get through the Commons. The numbers just ain’t there.
The basic problem in all of this is that Johnson has demonstrated his willingness to game the system - hence the distrust of him in parliament.
A compounding problem, of course, is that everyone else is still being self-seving first and tribal second so getting any sort of united front against him is difficult.
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I did ask that, rather tongue in cheek… 
Yes, that’s correct but not relevant to what’s happening today. Blair as a present day PM would have been a more effective opposition with the support to drum up a second referendum.
Corbyn ‘s lot is a relic of the 70/80s and unelectable. Blairites will veer towards the Libs as some Cons will veer towards Farage thus splitting the vote.
To me an election now is wrong . It’ll be fought on a single issue, not on a full range of policies covering the next 5 years. Surely the appropriate mechanism for a one-topic vote is a referendum. But apparently you can’t call it that so they are calling it an election and Boris wins all the way down the line because he doesn’t have to compete on policies beyond Brexit.
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Not so certain on that. I feel sure that he will lose many voters to the Brexit Party because he has failed to deliver Brexit by the 31st October.
I also saw Leavers being interviewed who said that they would not vote again.
If only the Remainers can get their act together and not stand against each other, they stand a chance.
It is relevant, in that he was instumental in making UK politics a smoke and mirrors game. Corbyn is not a smoke and mirrors man. But it shouldn’t be like that. Other countries don’t happily accept leaders who lie shamelessly, for all their faults.
*Here is an e-mail from Jo Swinson:
Jane, after the chaos of the last two weeks, I am more determined than ever that we stop Brexit.**
That’s why, over the last few days, our team in Westminster have been working on a plan to ensure we can do that. I’m delighted to be able to share it with you today.
There are currently two barriers to stopping Brexit.
The first is Boris Johnson who has proven time and time again that he can’t be trusted.
The second is Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party.
His party has time and time again backed Brexit. Just this week he failed to back a referendum in Parliament and allowed 19 Labour MPs to vote for the deal.
To stop Brexit, we need to get Boris out of office.
To stop Brexit, we need to increase the number of anti-Brexit MPs in Parliament.
It’s clear that a General Election is the only way we can achieve both of those things.
That is why we are going to introduce a Bill to amend the Fixed Term Parliament Act and hold a General Election on Monday, December 9th.
Our Bill will only come into force if the EU offers an extension to at least 31st January 2020. The timetable also means that Boris Johnson cannot try to force his deal through Parliament again.
The longer the gridlock goes on in Parliament, the harder it becomes for us to stop Brexit.
We can see the growing frustrations in the EU at the gridlock. We can see that because of Labour MPs backing Boris Johnson’s Bill and Conservative rebels not backing a People’s Vote, the route to getting a People’s Vote this Parliament is difficult.
But there are millions of people in the country who believe that we are better off inside the EU.
Millions who know they deserve a better choice than Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn.
We are ready to take our pro-European message to the country and have a General Election.
In that election, our offer will be that a Liberal Democrat majority government will revoke Article 50 to Stop Brexit.
And that Jane, is how we’ll stop Brexit.
If we are successful, polling day will be in 44 days.
We have an incredible opportunity ahead of us and together, I know we can pull off a result that will change our country for the better.
T
But there we are again. In effect the lidems are playing exactly the same game as the cons - trying to get into power for 5 years on the back of one promise. Have you ever in your life before voted without considering a party’s manifesto on education, taxes, social care, law and order, and indeed whether that party is capable of governing and managing the economy?
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Is there anyone out there who honestly believes the Libs will lead a majority government ?
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I don’t disagree - and certainly Brexit will dominate in a way that a single issue should not.
But what are the alternatives? There aren’t the numbers in parliament for a further referendum and the present Tory party, if it stays in power until 2022, will have great difficulty getting any legislation through.