Boris Johnson news - live: PM tries different route to get December general election after MPs vote against initial bid
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Your support makes all the difference.EU ambassadors have agreed on a Brexit extension until 31 January 2020 – killing off Boris Johnson’s pledge to deliver the UK’s exit from the bloc by Halloween. I
It comes as the prime minister lost his attempt to call an election on 12 December, after failing to achieve a two-thirds majority in the Commons. But the Lib Dems and the SNP have proposed a one-line bill to bypass the FTPA – one that would require only a simple majority to get an election.
No 10 said the government would introduce an “almost identical” one-line bill if Mr Johnson’s initial bid fails. Senior Labour figures condemned Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson’s “sell-out” offer to help the PM secure a December poll.
No10 will not reintroduce Brexit Bill if MPs agree to election
No 10 has said Boris Johnson will not introduce the withdrawal agreement bill if MPs vote for the one-line bill on an early general election in the coming days.
A source said: “Tonight we are laying a one clause motion to amend the FTPA and call an election with the named day of 12 December. The Bill is very similar to the LD/SNP Bill. The WAB will not be put back. This is the way to get Brexit done so the country can move on.”
The government's no deal planning is understood to have been stepped down as the possibility of a no-deal Brexit on 31 October falls into impossibility.
While some elements of the operation will be maintained in keeping with the government's position that a no-deal scenario is still possible in the long term, Sky News reports Operation Yellowhammer has been stood down.
Operation Yellowhammer is understood to have cost roughly £2billion so far.
End of the road for the Brexit 50p coins
The 50p Brexit coins that were to be a limited collector's run under Philip Hammond before becoming a full-scale operation under Sajid Javid are never to see the light of day.
It seems the currency it was hoped would serve as a symbol of the nation will now melt down in the face of another extension, according to Bloomberg's Jess Shankleman.
The coins had been a source of controversy in the past - with some vowing to return them to the bank in a show of protest against Brexit.
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