EU set to put Brexit delay on hold after Johnson's ultimatum

[Denzil_DC]

3. Daniel Boffey, one of the authors of the OP article, says there will be an extension offer,

the doubt is over how long it will be - possibly to 15 November (which, under the Benn Act, would require ratification by the UK parliament), with an automatic extension until 31 January if Johnson's withdrawal agreement isn't ratified by the UK parliament by that date:

Link to tweet

Daniel Boffey @DanielBoffey

EU source says there is "full agreement on the need for an extension" among EU27 and there will not be a special summit. But decision on length of extension will not be made until Monday or Tuesday.

This is backed up by other EU correspondents.

It's currently a stupid standoff: some in the EU, most notably Macron, don't want to grant an extension until there's a decision about a UK general election, whereas Labour and others (rightly so, I think) don't want to agree to a general election until 1 November, when no deal is off the table, as they don't trust Johnson not seize the opportunity to leave with no deal and to finagle the election date to suit his aims best.

Meanwhile, the government has been threatening to go "on strike" and hold its breath until it gets agreement to an election. Initially, this was to be a full "strike", but now, not least because of serious unrest among Tory backbenchers, it's been toned down to cover only dealings with the EU. The Benn Act provisions mean this could end up in the Scottish Court of Session again next week. Somebody's going to have to blink.