Johnson gets snap vote to fix Brexit crisis

Bloomberg

The UK will hold an emergency election in six weeks’ time, in a critical poll that could finally settle the question of Brexit.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson won backing in parliament to trigger the snap vote in an attempt to break the deadlock that has paralysed the country’s politics, weighed on its economy and left its citizens angry and divided.
The vote on December 12 will be the third time the UK has gone to the polls to choose a new government in four and-a-half-years. At a time of unprecedented political and constitutional upheaval, the outcome will be hard to predict.
The UK is still unable to complete its tortured divorce from the European Union, and Johnson has failed to get parliament to ratify his withdrawal agreement. The election may now turn into a proxy referendum on Brexit, the last chance for voters to choose between politicians campaigning to stay in the EU or leave it immediately.
“There is only one way to get Brexit done in the face of this unrelenting parliamentary obstructionism,” Johnson told House of Commons. “That is, Mr Speaker, to refresh this Parliament and give the people a choice.”
The campaign will pit Johnson, the charismatic and controversial face of the pro-Brexit movement, against the radical left-wing Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who defied pundits and pollsters and nearly won power two years ago.
“This is a once in a generation chance to build a country for the many, not the few,” Corbyn said on Twitter to announce Labour’s support for the early poll. “It’s time.”
While Johnson is seeking to cash in on his fame and commitment to delivering on the 2016 vote to leave the EU, Corbyn offers a socialist alternative of raising taxes on the rich and nationalising railways and utilities.
The two men were expected to face each other in parliament for a final time on Wednesday, for prime minister’s questions. The last time the country went to the polls, in 2017, Labour and the Conservatives won more than 80% of the vote between them as the smaller parties faded away. This time, with Brexit still unresolved, both main parties face challenges from marginal movements that have grown in popularity.