British PM Johnson's own brother quits on eve of Brexit election campaign

"Trust the people"

Since taking office in July, Boris Johnson has tried to corral the Conservative Party, which is openly fighting over Brexit, behind his strategy of leaving the European Union on Oct 31 at all costs, with or without a deal.

On Tuesday, he expelled 21 Conservative lawmakers from the party for failing to back his strategy, including Winston Churchill's grandson and two former finance ministers.

Behind the sound and the fury of the immediate crisis, an election now beckons for a polarised country.

The main choices on offer are Johnson's insistence on leaving the EU on Oct. 31, come what may, and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's hard-left socialist vision, coupled with a promise of a fresh referendum with an option to stay in the EU.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, who manages government business in the House of Commons, said parliament would be asked again on Monday, after the blocking bill becomes law, to approve a snap election. On Wednesday, lawmakers had rejected Johnson's request for an Oct 15 poll.

The Brexit crisis has for three years overshadowed European Union affairs, eroded Britain's reputation as a stable pillar of the West and seen sterling lunge back and forth in tune to the probability of a 'no-deal' exit.

Asked if Brexit would happen on Oct. 31, Johnson's belligerent senior adviser Dominic Cummings, a focus of many departing Conservative lawmakers' grievances, told Reuters: "Trust the people."