30 October 2019
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A general election will be held on 12 December to end the Brexit paralysis at Westminster and put the issue back to the people after MPs backed the prime minister's call for the country to go to the polls.
MPs backed the election call by a margin of 438 to 20. The prime minister has said the public must be "given a choice" over the future of Brexit and the country.
Boris Johnson has tried three times to call an election in the past few months, and Parliament rejected him every time — including just a day before. But the prime minister's fortunes shifted after the opposition Labour Party — which had previously abstained from the vote — decided that it would, after all, back an election.
There is only one way to get Brexit done in the face of this unrelenting parliamentary obstructionism"
No Deal is now off the table so tonight Labour will back a General Election.
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) October 29, 2019
We're launching the most ambitious and radical campaign for real change our country has ever seen.
This is a once in a generation chance to build a country for the many, not the few.
It's time.
That means the question of how — or even whether — the UK should divorce the European Union will be put back to the British public.
Polls currently suggest that Johnson's government could be well placed to improve their situation in an election. However, opposition parties all feel they can improve on their 2017 tally.
The bill is expected to be approved in the House of Lords. This comes after the EU granted the British government's request to delay Brexit for three months beyond its scheduled Oct. 31 date.
"There is only one way to get Brexit done in the face of this unrelenting parliamentary obstructionism, this endless willful fingers crossed 'not me, guv' refusal to deliver on the mandate of the people," Johnson said on Tuesday, "and that is to refresh this Parliament."
The Conservatives will campaign to get Brexit done by pushing through Johnson's deal, while Labour is promising a second referendum to let the people resolve the EU question.
The Brexit party will try to outgun the Tories by arguing for a no-deal Brexit, while the Lib Dems will seek to attract remain voters from Labour by pledging to revoke article 50.
A UK general election hasn't been held in December since 1923, and there is some concern that a cold, dark British winter could affect turnout.
The FCA has said it may actively explore areas of "flexibility" in EU laws following Brexit, according to the regulator's executive director of international Nausicaa Delfas.
The pound to euro exchange rate has shown a marginal decrease since yesterday morning. On Tuesday, GBP showed little reaction to MPs voting in favour of an early UK general election.
The pound is currently trading at 1.1580 against the euro, according to Bloomberg at the time of writing.
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