LONDON - British Prime Minister Boris
Johnson has threatened to purge any lawmaker in his party who
votes against the government on Brexit in a dramatic escalation
of tensions ahead of a crucial week at Westminster.
A senior source in the whips office, responsible for party
enforcement, said any Conservative lawmaker who votes against
the government this week would be thrown out of the
parliamentary party and banned from standing for the
Conservatives in the next election.
"The whips are telling Conservative MPs (members of
parliament) today a very simple message - if they fail to vote
with the government on Tuesday they will be destroying the
government’s negotiating position and handing control of
parliament to Jeremy Corbyn," the source said.
"Any Conservative MP who does this will have the whip
withdrawn and will not stand as Conservative candidates in an
election."
The battle for Brexit will enter the endgame this week when
opposition lawmakers from all parties seek to either change the
law, or the government, in their drive to block what they say
would be an economically damaging no-deal Brexit.
Corbyn, leader of the opposition Labour Party, will say on
Monday that he is ready to do everything possible to stop a
no-deal Brexit, describing it as a final attempt to pull "our
country back from the brink".
That puts him on a collision course with Johnson, figurehead
of the 2016 Vote Leave campaign, who has upped the stakes in the
battle since coming to power in July by vowing to take Britain
out of the European Union with or without a deal on Oct. 31.
He says any attempt to force his hand in parliament through
votes this week will hamper his efforts to secure a new deal
from Brussels.
But Johnson has a working majority of just one seat in the
650-seat chamber, meaning his threat to eject lawmakers such as
the former finance minister Philip Hammond or former justice
minister David Gauke could lead to an election.
"I understand calling an election, maybe even this week, is
one of the options under consideration," the BBC's Political
Editor Laura Kuenssberg said.
"It is far from inevitable, but it's not impossible that,
within a matter of days, we could all be asked to go to the
polls again."
Britain's education minister Gavin Williamson, himself a
former chief whip, said Johnson did not want to call an election
but it was right to threaten any lawmakers with deselection
because they were undermining Britain's position with Brussels.