Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Boris Johnson launches new bid for a general election on 12th December… Boris Johnson has declared he will launch a fresh bid to hold a general election on Thursday 12 December to “get Brexit done”.The prime minister is due to formally push for MPs to back the plan in the House of Commons on Monday – but he will need two thirds of them to support it. He added it “looks as though” the EU are going to respond to his forced request to delay Brexit “by having an extension”. Speaking after a meeting of senior cabinet ministers on Thursday, Mr Johnson vowed to act on MPs’ concern he had given them too little time to scrutinise the EU Withdrawal Bill, which writes into UK law the deal he secured with Brussels. – Sky News Cabinet divided over going to the country before Brexit deal is agreed – The Times (£) Nicola Sturgeon pleads with Jeremy Corbyn to back winter snap General Election in secret meeting – The Sun Labour splits laid bare as Rebecca Long Bailey backtracks on election – The Times (£) By offering MPs an election and time to examine his deal, the Prime Minister is playing clever politics – Daniel Capurro for the Telegraph (£) Labour is set to deny Boris Johnson a December election – James Forsyth for The Spectator Jeremy Corbyn and Labour must stop the excuses and back a Christmas election – The Sun Says …and declares the Government will ‘go on strike’ if Jeremy Corbyn refuses to back a snap poll … Boris Johnson last night declared his Government will go on strike if Jeremy Corbyn refuses a December 12 general election. In a high stakes bid to end the crippling Brexit deadlock, the PM demanded Labour agree to hold the pre-Christmas nationwide poll. If the Commons votes for it on Monday, Mr Johnson will reintroduce the landmark bill to pass his new EU deal that was derailed by MPs four days ago. But within two hours of the threat, Labour bosses said Mr Corbyn would order his MPs to refuse. – The Sun …as Jacob Rees-Mogg says there will be no Brexit debates next week The government has no plans to hold any debates on Brexit or an early election in the House of Commons next week, Jacob Rees-Mogg has announced. The Commons leader made no mention of the issues – despite Britain being due to leave the EU in seven days time – during an update on parliamentary business for the following week. But Prime Minister Boris Johnson has summoned a meeting of his political cabinet to 10 Downing Street at 3pm today. Brexit is still due to happen on 31 October, with EU leaders yet to decide on how to respond to Mr Johnson’s forced request for a delay to avoid no-deal. Despite that, Mr Rees-Mogg said instead of Brexit or an early election, MPs will next week debate the environment, talks to re-establish an executive at Stormont and the Grenfell Tower fire. – Sky News EU leaders could delay Brexit extension verdict until next week… EU leaders are set to delay their decision over how long a Brexit extension to offer the UK amid uncertainty over whether Boris Johnson will succeed in his attempt to call a snap election. European ambassadors will meet in Brussels on Friday to consider how to respond to the Prime Minister’s letter last weekend requesting a delay until 31 January at the latest. However, a final verdict is now not expected until next week – after MPs vote on the Prime Minister’s bid to hold an election on 12 December. – PoliticsHome …as France digs in heels over short end date As Westminster waits and the prime minister calls for an official EU decision to be made, France is acting as a spoke in the wheels. Much as it did back in spring when leaders debated the April Brexit extension. A consensus is forming amongst most EU countries, including powerful Germany, to grant the three-month delay outlined in Boris Johnson’s letter to Brussels requesting a new Brexit extension. They hope to formally announce this on Friday. Ambassadors representing the 27 EU leaders are expected to meet mid-morning in Brussels. But France worries a 12-week extension could encourage more UK indecisiveness or a general election which may prove inconclusive on Brexit. President Emmanuel Macron favours a short, sharp Brexit delay; encouraging MPs and the UK government to concentrate on ratifying the newly-negotiated Brexit deal. – BBC News MPs approve the Queen’s Speech Boris Johnson was handed a boost Thursday when MPs backed the list of laws he proposed last week. The House of Commons voted 310 to 294 to support the government’s legislative program, known as the queen’s speech because the monarch reads it out during a special ceremony. The result has no legal weight but — like the vote for his Brexit deal on Tuesday — it shows Johnson can unite his party alongside Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party which props up his minority government, despite not having an outright majority of his own. – Politico Northern Irish business groups want ‘greater clarity’ over Irish Sea checks There will be “minimal targeted interventions” on trade from Northern Ireland to GB under the PM’s Brexit deal, the Brexit secretary has said. Stephen Barclay’s comments came after Northern Ireland business groups appealed for greater clarity about how the deal will affect trade with the rest of the UK. DUP MP Nigel Dodds said: “This will adversely affect the most important trade we have in Northern Ireland.” He also said Mr Barclay should “waken up and realise” the government was in danger of “causing real problems” with the unionist community. The president of the business organisation, the CBI, has said “urgent clarity” is needed “from the UK Government about how they intend to protect Northern Ireland’s place in the internal market”. Speaking in Belfast, John Allan said: “Northern Ireland businesses simply cannot afford for the next phase of Brexit to drain investment and growth at the level we’ve seen over the past three years.” – BBC News Will Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal pave way to a united Ireland? – FT (£) Britain rises up rankings as a good place to do business Britain has retained its place in the world’s top ten markets to do business as the government prepares companies at home and abroad for Brexit. The World Bank highlighted improving corporate environments in Saudi Arabia, China and India as it published its annual rankings, which put New Zealand in pole position. Somalia was bottom of the 190 economies in which it analysed barriers to business. Britain edged one position higher in the overall rankings, from ninth to eighth, overtaking Norway. The country did well in measures relating to the protection of minority investors, in which it was ranked seventh, and access to electricity, in which it came eighth. Its weakest performance was in the property registration category, where it was ranked 41st. – The Times (£) Google denies it is biased against Brexiteers Google has denied that it picks its search results based on “political viewpoints”, after it was criticised by pro-Brexit campaigners who said it failed to display enough stories supporting their cause. The company says it chooses its stories based on “the quality and relevance of content” and that it is unable to detect political viewpoints, let alone choose its search results based on them. Google’s response comes after it was accused of being biased for not promoting enough pro-Brexit news sources when people search for information about the UK leaving the European Union. – Independent EU President says she’ll ask for a UK Commissioner if Brexit is delayed European Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen said today she would ask Britain to nominate a commissioner if Brexit is delayed. EU leaders are considering a request for a three-month delay to the current Brexit date of October 31, contained in a letter Prime Minister Boris Johnson was compelled to send to Brussels at the weekend by the British parliament. “We need to move step by step,” von der Leyen told a news conference in Helsinki. “First of all, of course, there is the question of granting an extension. That looks very good. – Politico Larry Elliott: Don’t be fooled – the EU is no defender of workers’ rights Britain’s labour market has been reshaped over the past 40 years by deregulation, privatisation and anti-trade union laws, not by the limited protections delivered by the EU, which are weaker in practice than they sound in principle. There was, for example, nothing in the draconian Trade Union Act 2016 that would have run counter to EU law, not even the clause – eventually dropped as the legislation passed through parliament – that picket supervisors would have to give their name to the police. This should not come as a surprise, because from its earliest days the overriding principle behind the European project has been to make life easier for capital, which is why multinational corporations like it so much. – Larry Elliott for the Guardian Martin Howe QC: EU leaders should turn the screws on the Brexit wreckers by rejecting any further delay The best way to ensure that the UK leaves the EU on time on is for one or more of the EU27 Member States to veto an extension, or at most to grant a very short extension which would be final and not further extendable. Under Article 50, any extension decision is a matter for the representatives of the 27 remaining Member States in the European Council who have to decide unanimously in order to grant an extension, as well as for the withdrawing Member State which also needs to give its agreement from outside the Council. – Martin Howe QC for the Telegraph (£) Tom Strathclyde: Boris Johnson may not have to resign if he loses a no confidence vote Constitutional government relies on a series of shared understandings, and those with differing political objectives being willing to act in accordance with agreed practice. The high tempers of the Brexit process have certainly put pressure on these understandings and on that willingness.From the Cooper-Letwin episode to the Benn Act, too many parliamentarians have, unfortunately, proved themselves willing – with help from the Speaker – to override constitutional norms.- Lord Strathclyde for The Spectator Brendan O’Neill: Why David Lammy should join the Brexit camp For three-and-a-half years Brexiteers have been told that we didn’t know what we were voting for. I think that might be truer of hardcore Remainer MPs like David Lammy. Today Mr Lammy is bemoaning the fact that the French President has more say over the length of a Brexit extension than our own Prime Minister does. Yes, David, we know — and it’s because people like you voted for precisely this scenario!Does Mr Lammy even understand what he’s voting for? It seems not. – Brendan O’Neill for The Spectator Brexit in Brief Mario Draghi leaves Europe near recession, in a deflation trap – and out of ammunition Ambrose Evans-Pritchard for the Telegraph (£) Brexit could provide the US huge economic opportunity – George Holding for CNN Will ‘Bollocks to Brexit’ work in a General Election? – Oliver Nottidge for ConservativeHome What those economic forecasts really say about Brexit – Rob Lyons for Spiked Treat our Vichy Parliament with the contempt it deserves – Michael St George for ConservativeWoman Are Remainers a master race? – Spiked We Need a Fair Immigration System to Help our Public Services – Joshua Mackenzie–Lawrie of Get Britain Out Commission offers €20m to run EU information hotline – Politico