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UK lawmakers set up new vote to delay Brexit; Johnson threatens snap election

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UK lawmakers set up new vote to delay Brexit; Johnson threatens snap election

Lawmakers in the U.K. House of Commons voted to take control of the legislative agenda from Prime Minister Boris Johnson, setting up a new vote Sept. 4 that would delay the U.K.'s departure from the EU in the absence of an exit deal. Johnson responded by saying he will push for a snap election if the vote succeeds.

Lawmakers approved a motion by a 328-301 vote, including 21 Conservatives defying their leader, to seize the agenda for Sept. 4 and allow Parliament to vote on a bill that requires Johnson to ask the EU to postpone the U.K.'s departure from Oct. 31 until at least Jan. 31, 2020, unless a new Brexit deal is struck by Oct. 19 or Parliament endorses a no-deal exit.

Johnson said his government will file a motion under the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act, which sets the U.K.'s elections. Earlier reports said he would aim for early elections Oct. 14.

"I don't want an election, but if MPs vote tomorrow to stop negotiations and to compel another pointless delay to Brexit potentially for years, then that would be the only way to resolve this," Johnson told lawmakers. The prime minister would need a two-thirds majority in Parliament to trigger new polls.

The Brexit votes this week follow Johnson's successful move to suspend Parliament for more than a month in the lead-up to the Oct. 31 Brexit date.

An early election would raise the perceived risk of a "no-deal" Brexit in financial markets, increasing the pressure on the pound, according to a note from James Smith, developed markets economist at ING Economics.

Johnson said the proposed bill for Sept. 4 would wreck any potential new Brexit deal with the EU.

"It would force me to accept any terms offered. ... It means running up the white flag," Johnson said in a speech earlier in the day, maintaining that he will not seek another extension to Brexit.

Johnson suffered the Brexit vote defeat as his government lost its working majority in Parliament.