Looking up: Jeremy Corbyn has reason to feel optimistic.

Attempts to filibuster the so-called Benn Bill to prevent a ‘no deal’ Brexit in the House of Lords have been dropped.

The Bill will be returned to the Commons by 5pm on Friday (September 6), in order to allow it to receive Royal Assent by the end of Parliament’s sitting on Monday (September 9).

This would ensure that Boris Johnson has no alternative but to seek a Brexit deal – or an extension of the Brexit deadline – as Parliament goes into the prorogation period he so recklessly demanded last week.

Mr Johnson has now fallen back on a demand that a general election should take place if Parliament is not willing to accept his plan for Brexit – and has accused Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn of being a “chicken” for refusing to back it.

But of course, BoJob is a known liar and Mr Corbyn says it is not in the nation’s interest to offer him a way to get out of following Parliament’s will – and acting to avoid ‘no deal’ – before that will has been enacted.

Mr Johnson wants an election on October 15 – before a major EU summit on October 17 which may be the last chance to avoid ‘no deal’ on the current timetable.

He is said to be planning to speak to the public directly, sometime after 4pm today (September 5), in a bid to drum up support for his election plan.

But the public don’t currently have anything to do with it – and won’t, as long as Labour refuses to support an election.

Labour’s best course now is to refuse to budge until after October 31.

Mr Johnson has lost vote after vote, and will continue to do so while he continues to lead a minority government.

Labour has good reason to delay supporting an election, then, as the later it happens, the worse Mr Johnson and the Conservatives will appear – and in practical terms, it can be said that Mr Johnson must see through the will of Parliament before the nation goes to the polls.

We’ll get an election when Labour is best-placed to win it, not before.

In the meantime, you can expect the Tory media to do their collective nut.

Stunts by The Sun like taking an item of ladies’ clothing to Jeremy Corbyn’s house (after BoJob called him a “girl’s blouse”), and printing photoshopped images of the Labour leader as a chicken are probably mild examples of what will follow.

But they will only make themselves look more and more ridiculous as time goes on.

It seems to This Writer that the only way out for the Tories is if one of the opposition parties that have allied against them agrees to support an election between now and the date when Parliament is prorogued.

The BBC seems to be suggesting that the SNP might cave in – but they only have 35 seats and the Tories are currently 43 seats short of the majority they need.

Will the Liberal Democrats agree to an election on Boris Johnson’s timetable, in a bid to spite Labour and prevent a Labour government?

Or will the former Tories who rebelled against their leader come back into the fold, for the same reason?

If you’re on the edge of your seat watching this, stay there.

Source: Lords agree to push through bill preventing no-deal Brexit by end of Friday | Politics | The Guardian