Snap poll hangs Brexit

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday told opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn to “man up” and accept a snap election as European Union (EU) members delayed a decision on how long to postpone next week’s Brexit deadline.

Senior diplomats told AFP they would decide by late Monday or early Tuesday next week, shortly before Britain is currently scheduled to break away from the bloc on Thursday.

At home, Johnson wants to call an election for 12 December that he hopes will give him a majority to pass the divorce deal he struck with EU leaders last week.

But his government is struggling to secure the two-thirds majority it needs in a parliamentary vote, scheduled for Monday, to force the election.

The stand-off extends the uncertainty that has dragged on ever since the 2016 referendum in which Britain voted by 52 percent in favor of leaving the European Union.

Corbyn has said his Labour Party will withhold support until a no-deal Brexit is definitively taken off the table, which would require a major reworking of the deal Johnson struck with the EU.

“Time for Corbyn (to) man up. Let’s have an election on 12 December,” Johnson told television stations. “What I’m saying to Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party is that they have the opportunity now to get this thing done.”