The stakes are high as lawmakers return from their summer recess today
It all boils down to a vote in parliament now to determine if we'll be headed to the polls again before the end of October. Let's try to simplify what has transpired yesterday and what may happen in the day ahead, shall we?
Firstly, rebel/opposition lawmakers are going to request an emergency motion later today to try and take control of parliament with the aim of stopping a no-deal Brexit.
They will be looking to vote and pass a bill in order to force Boris Johnson to request an extension to Article 50 from 31 October 2019 to 31 January 2020.
Johnson has already warned Tory lawmakers that if they vote against the government, he will deselect them. So far, there is still quite a number of Tories that are unperturbed by the threat as they look to curtail Johnson's plan of leaving without a Brexit deal.
Also, Johnson has made clear that he will not give in to any request to delay the Brexit deadline so essentially his message is this: If UK lawmakers try to take control away from the government in the Brexit process, we will call a general election.
A motion for an election would require two-thirds majority (currently 650 MPs, so that means 434 votes) to be passed so that is the magic number to watch out for.
As such, Labour's position on the matter is also key. Jeremy Corbyn has said that his party is ready for one but the general view of other members may not be so clear as they would like to stop a no-deal Brexit first before heading to the polls.
That presents another issue as there is still no cast iron legislation in place to prevent a no-deal Brexit. Given such a scenario, a victory for Johnson would mean that he can still pursue Brexit without a deal so essentially, lawmakers will want to try and ensure that there is some fail-safe in place before an election is called.
But it is unlikely that they will have the time to do so given how things look to be developing this week. It is all very fluid at the moment so watch out for more potential headlines later today. As for a potential election date, mark down 14 October on your calendars.
