Nicola Sturgeon has revealed SNP MPs will back moves to hold a general election in the run up to Christmas, if the European Union grants a lengthy delay to Brexit.
Boris Johnson is understood to be considering a plan to move a motion under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act to hold an early election if EU leaders push the Brexit date back to January.
Under the terms of the act, two thirds of MPs must back the motion.
Ms Sturgeon, speaking in Westminster yesterday, said: “If there is an extension nailed down, then the right next move is to put this issue back to the electorate.
“I want an election because I want to see the back of this Tory government and want people to have the opportunity to turn their back on Brexit.
“I would be very happy to see that general election before Christmas.”
Ms Sturgeon, who gave a joint press conference with her Welsh Labour counterpart Mark Drakeford, also reiterated her opposition to Mr Johnson’s Withdrawal Agreement Bill.
She said: “This is quite simply a bad deal and a bad Bill. It is bad for Scotland, bad for Wales and bad for the UK.
“Indeed, the uniqueness of this event, the first ministers of Wales and Scotland, of different political persuasions, uniting in opposition to this deal is in itself a signal of how bad we believe it to be.”
Mr Drakeford also backed an early election and warned: “I’ve come to believe over the months that I’ve had meetings with the current government that in the end it is the unionists who will see off the Union because of their carelessness about it about their unwillingness to give the sort time and attention that needs to be given.”
