"STOP THROWING TANTRUMS"
On Thursday, Johnson called for a general election on Dec. 12, offering parliament until Nov. 6 to ratify his Brexit deal - the first time Britain's prime minister had conceded he would not meet his Oct. 31 deadline.
It is his third attempt to get the required backing in parliament, where he needs the support of two-thirds of its 650 lawmakers for a new election.
Almost immediately, Labour said it could not back a new election until the party was sure a so-called no-deal Brexit had been taken off the table.
On Sunday, the party's health policy chief, Jon Ashworth, again said the party would wait for the EU to decide on the length of any Brexit extension before taking a decision.
"Of course we want a general election but we've got to make sure that we get those absolute reassurances that Boris Johnson won't use a general election and the campaign to crash us out of the European Union with a disastrous no-deal Brexit," he said.
"That is what we're waiting for."
The EU has agreed there should be an extension but has set no departure date, saying it would wait to see how parliament voted on Johnson's call for an early election.
Taking a different tack, two other opposition parties, the Scottish National Party and Liberal Democrats, have written to Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, to ask for a delay until Jan. 31. They want a new poll on Dec. 9.
But the Conservatives and Labour described the move as a stunt, putting into question whether the two parties' alternative bid could be passed by parliament.
With the government looking likely to lose its vote on Monday, former finance minister Philip Hammond had a word of warning for the prime minister.
"I shall be voting against him. This is not the time to be holding a general election, it is a time for cool heads and grown-up government," Hammond told Sky News.
"The government should stop making threats, stop throwing tantrums and get on with the grown-up business of doing its business."
