Boris Johnson's election bid could be blocked by Jeremy Corbyn until Parliament stops a no-deal Brexit

• Boris Johnson's bid for an election on October 14 could be blocked by Labour
• The prime minister is threatening to seek an election if members of parliament tonight vote to delay Brexit.
• Johnson wants an election instead of allowing the Brexit delay law to come into force, insisting there are "no circumstances" in which he would request a delay.
• Labour signaled they will block any bid until an extension is secure.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's threat to trigger a general election in order to prevent Brexit from being delayed, could be blocked by the opposition Labour party who insist they will not allow the prime minister to force Britain into a no-deal exit from the EU.

The House of Commons will on Tuesday evening vote on legislation designed to delay Brexit until January 31 2020.

The opposition is quietly confident of winning the vote with more than a dozen Conservative members of parliament committed to rebelling, despite threats from Johnson that they will then be sacked from the party.

Ahead of the vote Downing Street warned members of Parliament that the prime minister would seek a general election on October 14 rather than abide by the law.

"There are no circumstances in which I will ask Brussels to delay," Johnson said in a televised statement outside his Downing Street residence on Monday evening.

A senior government source told journalists that if the Brexit delay law passes this week then "MPs will effectively be voting for a rapid general election."

If the first stage of passing the legislation is approved by the House of Commons on Tuesday evening, then Downing Street plans to immediately bring forward a vote calling for a general election, in order to prevent the legislation from coming into forced.

Read more: Boris Johnson will seek a general election if Parliament votes to block a no-deal Brexit

Read more: Brexit will be delayed until 2020 if MPs vote this week for law to prevent a no-deal exit

However, the opposition Labour party on Tuesday signaled that they would block any vote for a general election until the law preventing a no-deal Brexit came into force.

"This is about sequencing," Shadow Attorney General Shami Chakrabarti told the BBC.

"What we need to ensure is we get this legislation locked down.

"Today and tomorrow the primary priority working across parties is to legislated against a disastrous no-deal."

The Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Tony Lloyd told BBC Newsnight the party would "absolutely" vote against an election this week if it allowed Johnson to take Britain into a no-deal Brexit.

Blocking a general election altogether would be a difficult step for Labour given their leader Jeremy Corbyn has been repeatedly calling for one since Johnson became prime minister.

Speaking at a rally on Monday Corbyn insisted he would be "delighted when the election comes."

He added: "I'm ready for it, you're ready for it, we're ready for it. We'll take the message out there and above all we will win for the people of this country."

Labour is likely to seek a guarantee that any election comes sufficiently in advance of Britain's planned exit from the EU on October 31.

It is unclear how such a guarantee could be given. Under the UK's current law and convention, the prime minister is free to change the election date after the principle of holding an election is agreed by parliament.

Chakrabati cast doubt on whether the party could trust any guarantee given by Johnson on the election date.

"We certainly need to make sure that Boris Johnson can't go in for the sort of shenanigans he's been going in for with his chums last week where the date is moved so we crash out by default during this period of the campaign with them squatting in Number 10," she told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

Hammond promises Boris the 'fight of a lifetime'

Johnson's internal Conservative opponents also threw doubt on whether he could be trusted.

"Any PM might chose to change the election date," the former Chancellor Philip Hammond told the Today programme.

Hammond, who will join the Conservative rebellion tonight in favour of blocking a no-deal Brexit, promised Johnson the "fight of a lifetime" if the prime minister follows through on his threat to expel any MP who votes to delay Brexit.

The former chancellor was re-selected as their candidate for the next election by his constituency party on Monday, meaning Downing Street would have to overrule the wishes of local party members in order to follow through on their threat.

Two potential Conservative rebel MPs, the former Conservative Education Secretary Justine Greening, and Keith Simpson both announced on Tuesday that they will stand down at the next election.

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