Bottom line he made it clear he was FORCED by parliament to send that letter requesting the delay but he will refuse to engage the EU on the topic
Very smart move. Very interesting situation. Will the EU vote in accordance with the UK government or their parliament?
Will clearly show whether the UK Goverment is respected or not.
If the EU approves the “request” for the delay it will set a precedent of ignoring the request from a PM of a member Nation opting to side with a request from the vote count of the Parliament which is acting AGAINST the will of the PEOPLE that parliament is supposed to represent.
Get a big bowl of popcorn for this one.
“Will clearly show whether the UK Goverment is respected or not.”
Obviously, the Fixed Term Parliaments Act needs to be repealed or amended to create a safety valve for a situation like this one, where the government lacks confidence but there cannot be an election.
My preference, of course, is for HMQ to dissolve Parliament on her own, but apparently the FTPA prohibits this. Since a 2/3 vote is needed to dissolve now, that means that a minority of 1/3 +1, afraid of losing an election, can keep the government unable to legislate for up to five years.