British Prime Minister Boris Johnson threatened Monday to expel any Conservative Party rebels if they try to block his push for a no-deal exit next month from the European Union.

Johnson has only a one-seat majority in the House of Commons. But as parliament returns Tuesday from its summer recess, as many as 20 Tory rebels could join opposition lawmakers to tie the government’s hands against Johnson’s efforts to quit the EU on Oct. 31 without spelling out the terms of the divorce.

The spokesman for the new British leader told reporters that it “would be entirely unreasonable” for the parliamentarians, “having rejected the previous deal three times, to attempt to bind the hands” of Johnson “as he seeks to negotiate a deal they can support.”

Johnson summoned his Cabinet ministers for a meeting, stoking speculation that he would call for a snap election next month if parliament rejects his Brexit plans, possibly a vote ahead of a mid-October summit of EU leaders on final terms of Britain’s departure from the 28-nation bloc after 46 years of membership.

Former Justice Minister David Gauke told the BBC, “Their strategy to be honest is to lose this week and then seek a general election having removed those of us… who believe we should leave with a deal.”

Opposition Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said, “We want a general election” to oust what he described as Johnson’s “phony, populist cabal.”

Corbyn said, “We must come together to stop no deal – this week could be our last chance.”

But former Labor leader Tony Blair warned Corbyn, a veteran socialist, that an election is an “elephant trap” Johnson has laid for Labor.

“Boris Johnson knows that if no-deal Brexit stands on its own as a proposition it might well fail,” Blair said, “but if he mixes it up with the Corbyn question in a general election he could succeed despite a majority being against a no-deal Brexit because some (voters) may fear a Corbyn premiership more.”

Johnson’s spokesman said the prime minister has been asked many times whether he wants a snap election and “his answer has always been that he doesn’t want there to be an election.”

The Ladbrokes betting house said odds now are that there will be an election next month, with a 75% probability there would be one before the end of 2019.

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