Matt Zarb-Cousin: A general election is the path of least resistance to stop a no-deal Brexit

If rule number one of opposition is “Never turn down an election” then rule number two ought to be: “Don’t label an opportunity to replace the government as ‘pointless’” – particularly if you’ve spent the past four years railing against Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, arguing that the left enjoys the comfort of opposition, and would rather be a party of protest and rallies than a serious party with aspirations of government.

Oh, how the tables have turned. There is absolutely no justification for a Labour MP wanting to keep Boris Johnson in No 10, but by refusing to back a general election that is precisely what they’re doing. The EU27 will not agree to any meaningful changes to the withdrawal agreement unless the government changes and the negotiating principles change with it. So to stop a no-deal Brexit – even if article 50 is extended – we will in all probability have to win some version of a public vote: either a general election that elects a Labour government, or a second referendum with an option to remain.

Devoid of any serious or coherent domestic agenda, the Conservatives are seeking to engineer an election defined by Brexit – a proxy second referendum. But Theresa May tried this in 2017 after she triggered article 50, and she lost seats. Because general elections are about much more than a single issue, they are about the future of the country. Labour can move the agenda on from Brexit, just as it did in 2017. The government may well be trying to engineer an election at what they assume is the best time for a Conservative victory – but that is always the way with these things. It is no reason to retreat. Any panic is unwarranted – this is a political impasse which requires a political solution. It’s exactly what elections are for.

So if the objective is to stop no deal, a general election on 14 October that puts Corbyn into No 10 is the path of least resistance – a far less uncertain prospect than a second referendum with no deal on the ballot, a vote that would be defined purely by a single issue and the principle of respecting democracy. Under all circumstances, Labour MPs must back a general election as soon as possible.

‘If we allow Boris Johnson to hold a snap election in the next month he can mix up the Brexit question with questions over Jeremy Corbyn,’ says Kyle. Photograph: WPA Pool/Getty Images

• Matt Zarb-Cousin is the former spokesman for Jeremy Corbyn

Peter Kyle: We need a referendum, not a general election

I will not dance to Boris Johnson’s tune. He wants chaos at any cost, but what our country really needs is for us to stop no deal, resolve Brexit, and then allow the public to decide the future direction for the country in a general election – not the other way round.

Johnson knows that if no-deal Brexit were to stand on its own as a general election proposition, it may well fail. But if we allow him to hold a snap election in the next month, he can mix up the Brexit question with questions over Corbyn, while at the same time offering huge public spending incentives on policing and health. This could succeed in returning him to Downing Street, a victory for his no-deal Brexit, despite a majority of the public being against it.

Brexit is the biggest issue our country has faced in the last 70 years, and it needs to be debated and voted on as a standalone issue.

The ballot we need at this present time is not a general election but a referendum: a public vote on any deal (or no deal) that Johnson intends to deliver. Only after the country has decided on Brexit, based on facts not promises, should we move to a general election. Only after the country has resolved Brexit can we openly and honestly discuss how our country should be run and which party is best placed to run it. A pre-Brexit election would not permit this, which is why I will not vote for a general election at this moment.

Let the public decide on Boris’s deal, and then let’s fight an election on manifestos that will allow us to discuss openly, outside the shadow of Brexit, the issues of our NHS, social care, housing, jobs and the many challenges facing our economy and country.

• Peter Kyle is MP for Hove and Portslade