LONDON: Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday he was undaunted by an attempt by lawmakers to block a no-deal Brexit, setting up a showdown with parliament after it passed legislation demanding that he delay Brexit unless he strikes a new agreement.
As he navigates the Brexit storm, Johnson was due to suspend parliament for over a month from Monday after it votes on his latest demand for a snap election, a vote that is likely to go against him.
Johnson had set up the suspension — called a prorogation — last month in what opponents cast as an attempt to sideline lawmakers as he attempts to pull the country out of the European Union by October 31, with or without a withdrawal deal.
Brexit, the United Kingdom’s most significant geopolitical move in decades, remains in question more than three years since the 2016 referendum, with possible outcomes ranging from a no-deal exit to abandoning the whole endeavour.
Johnson, a former journalist who derided the EU and later became the face of the 2016 Vote Leave campaign, has repeatedly promised to deliver Brexit on October 31 and has said he will not countenance any delay.
He wants an election to break the deadlock. An alliance of opposition lawmakers and rebels from Johnson’s own Conservative Party have passed a bill, which was due to become law on Monday once Queen Elizabeth gives her assent, ordering the prime minister to delay Brexit to 2020 unless he gets a deal. “I’m absolutely undaunted by whatever may take place in parliament,” Johnson said in Dublin ahead of talks with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.
“We must get Brexit done because the UK must come out on October 31, or else I fear that permanent damage will be done to confidence in our democracy in the UK,” Johnson said.
It was unclear what Johnson’s next move would be: the law will oblige him to seek a delay unless he can strike a new deal, but EU leaders have repeatedly said they have received no specific proposals.
Ireland told Johnson on Monday that he must make specific proposals on the future of the Irish border if there is to be any hope of averting a no-deal Brexit, saying Dublin cannot rely on simple promises.
“In the absence of agreed alternative arrangements, no backstop is no deal for us,” Varadkar, standing beside Johnson outside the Irish government, told reporters. “We are open to alternatives, but they must realistic ones, legally binding and workable and we haven’t received such proposals to date.”
The blunt remarks by Varadkar indicate the difficulty of Johnson’s gamble of using the threat of a no-deal exit to convince Germany and France that they must rewrite an exit agreement struck last November.
Johnson, who has no majority in parliament, is seeking an election just a few weeks ahead of the October 31 deadline, though lawmakers have already refused that request once.
He will put forward another motion in parliament on Monday to propose a poll, but it would require the support of two-thirds of lawmakers — and opposition parties have said they will not agree to an election until a no-deal exit is ruled out. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn met other opposition party leaders on Monday and they agreed they would vote against his election bid.
“All leaders agreed that they would not support Boris Johnson’s ploy to deny the people their decision by crashing us out of the EU with No Deal during a general election campaign,” Labour said. — Reuters
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