Cable Spikes As Labour Backs Johnson’s Bid For December Election

After weeks of uncertainty surrounding whether the opposition would join with Boris Johnson to end the Brexit impasse by calling for a general election this year, a deal has finally been reached, and it looks like Johnson will get the 2/3rds majority he needs to dissolve Parliament and call for elections.

Cable, which had been under pressure Tuesday morning as the greenback rallied, spiked on the news, to trade at $1.2840, compared with $1.2807 earlier in the session.

Labour finally capitulated and agreed to back Johnson, with leader Jeremy Corbyn agreeing to another embarrassing U-turn. Corbyn said his No. 1 condition was that a no-deal Brexit be off the table (this is already the case thanks to the Benn Act), Bloomberg reports.

Does this mean the election is a sure thing? Not quite. Rather, a period of squabbling over the timing of the vote is about to begin, as different parties have expressed support for different dates.

There’s also the issue of opposition support for keeping settled EU citizens on the electoral register.

Is a December GE now locked on? Not quite yet. I’m told Labour will back amendments to put settled EU citizens on the electoral register. IF SNP/LDS do too, the Govt could yet pull the bill… so they may not.

— Tom Newton Dunn (@tnewtondunn) October 29, 2019

A marathon session of debate in Parliament is now about to begin. Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg said the government wants the election bill to pass all House of Commons stages on Tuesday, meaning that the debate over the bill could continue “until any hour.”