Johnson loses bid to call general election
UK MPs rejected Boris Johnson's call for an early general election as the prime minister faced more humbling defeats in parliament on Wednesday.
Johnson needed two thirds of all MPs to vote in favour under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, but only 298 voted for the motion and 56 against, leaving him 136 short.
Meanwhile, the bill to block a no-deal Brexit passed all its stages in the House of Commons in one day, as opposition parties and 21 Tory rebels moved to drive the legislation through before parliament is suspended next week.
The bill passed its second and third readings by 327 to 299 and 329 to 300. It will now go to the Lords for approval, but pro-Brexit peers have laid down more than 100 amendments to thwart its progress.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn likened Johnson's call for an election to an “offer of an apple to Snow White from the Wicked Queen... offering the poison of a no deal".
"Let this bill pass and gain Royal Assent (final approval), then we will back an election so we do not crash out."
Johnson's opponents are concerned that Johnson will use an election to ignore the bill going through parliament and force Britain out of the European Union without a deal on October 31.