LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called on Thursday for a general election on Dec. 12 to break the deadlock in Brexit, acknowledging for the first time that he would not meet the bloc's deadline to leave next week.
Johnson said in a letter to opposition Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn that he would give parliament more time to approve his EU withdrawal deal, but in return lawmakers should back elections in December, Johnson's third attempt to force early elections.
A week before Britain's planned withdrawal from the European Union, the bloc appears to be giving Johnson a delay, something Johnson has repeatedly said he does not want but has been forced to ask from the divided parliament.
His team sees the election as the only way out of the crisis over the pullout after parliament voted in favor of the deal, but minutes later he rejected his preferred timetable, which would have met on October 31.
But he has twice failed to win votes in parliament to hold elections. He needs the support of two-thirds of the 650 lawmakers. Labor has repeatedly said it will support the election only when it is confirmed that it will not lead to Britain's withdrawal from the European Union without an agreement.
"This parliament refused to take decisions," Johnson wrote to Corbin. "He cannot refuse to allow voters to replace him with a new parliament that can make decisions."
"The prolongation of this paralysis until 2020 will have serious repercussions on business, jobs and basic confidence in democratic institutions that have already been hit hard by the behavior of parliament since the referendum." "Parliament can no longer hold the country hostage."