Aides for British Prime Minister Theresa May have begun contingency planning for a possible snap election in November, the Sunday Times reported yesterday.
Two senior members of her political operation began “war gaming” an autumn vote in a bid to win public backing for a new Brexit plan.
One person in her inner circle told Cabinet members she would probably stand down next summer in a move designed to stop them from resigning now in protest at her leadership.
The Sun newspaper later quoted a Downing Street official decrying the Times article as “utter hogwash.”
British Secretary of State for Exiting the EU Dominic Raab also said that Britain is standing resolute on its proposals for a divorce deal with the EU, as he ruled out an early election.
“We have come up with a serious set of proposals... We are not just going to flit from plan to plan like some sort of diplomatic butterfly, we are going to be resolute about this,” Raab told BBC TV yesterday.
Asked about the Times report, he said: “It is for the birds, it is not going to happen.”
However, the latest speculation might further energize the Labour Party conference that started yesterday in Liverpool.
In an interview with the Mirror, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the government must hold an election if it cannot deliver Brexit, which is looking more likely following May’s failure to win over EU leaders last week in Salzburg, Austria.
The Mirror also said Corbyn would reluctantly back holding another EU referendum if the conference wants it.
“Our preference would be for a general election and we can then negotiate our future relationship with Europe but let’s see what comes out of conference,” the Labour leader told BBC TV yesterday.
Corbyn said that if Labour was negotiating with Brussels it would seek a trade agreement with a customs union with the EU so there did not need to be a hard border on the island of Ireland, one of the main remaining sticking points in Brexit talks.
Up to now, he has kept his counsel on the subject, a strategy designed with the idea of watching the ruling Conservatives tear themselves apart.
If he manages to play both sides of Brexit, Labour will be in power, according to one top aide.
If he gets it wrong, it will be catastrophic, the person told Bloomberg last week.
A new YouGov poll published yesterday in the Observer showed 86 percent of Labour Party members would support a public vote on the outcome of Brexit negotiations.
More than 100 local Labour associations have submitted motions to the Liverpool conference urging a public plebiscite, with a choice between leaving on terms agreed by the government or staying in the EU.
Party leaders were to decide yesterday on which motions would be up for debate and votes.
Still, Labour faces a major political dilemma over Brexit. Most of the party’s half a million members voted in 2016 to remain in the EU, but many of its 257 lawmakers represent areas that supported Brexit.
Additional reporting by AP
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