Snap General Election ‘Last Thing Country Needs’, Says Sajid Javid

“I know that Conservative party headquarters is planning on only one set of elections, which is the local government elections. The last thing this country wants is an election; they want parliament to deliver Brexit in an orderly way,” Javid said.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn attempted to force a general election earlier this month by tabling a vote of no-confidence in the government. 

May’s administration emerged victorious, comfortably winning the vote 325 to 306, and the PM insisted in parliament a general election “would be the worst thing we could do”. 

On Sunday, she said she will be “battling for Britain” when she returns to Brussels in the weeks ahead.

But her backbenchers and the government’s confidence-and-supply partners, the DUP, are unlikely to settle for anything other than legally-binding changes to the Withdrawal Agreement. 

Former Brexit minister Steve Baker warned of “trouble ahead” if she returned with assurances or a “codicil”. 

Corbyn, meanwhile, repeated his call for a fresh poll on a visit to Glasgow on Saturday. 

“People are suffering under austerity as a direct result of Tory cuts in Westminster passed down by the SNP in Holyrood,” he said. 

“The people who are bearing the brunt of nine years of austerity cannot wait years for a general election.

“They need a general election now.”