Boris Johnson refuses to rule out suspending Parliament to force through no-deal Brexit
3 min read
Boris Johnson has refused to rule out suspending Parliament in order to force through a no-deal Brexit.
The Prime Minister said it was "the job of everyone in Parliament" to help deliver Brexit as he repeatedly refused to say what he would do if MPs attempted to block a no-deal departure.
His comments come ahead of planned talks between Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and other opposition parties to thrash out a plan to stop Mr Johnson from pushing through Brexit without a deal on 31 October.
Speaking at the close of the G7 summit in Biarritz, Mr Johnson called for MPs to back his bid to find a new compromise with the bloc.
“I think that this really is a matter for parliamentarians to get right ourselves," he said. " We asked the people to vote on whether they wanted to stay in or leave the EU; they voted to leave by a big majority.
“I think people have just about had enough of this conversation, and I think they’re yearning for the moment when Brexit comes off the front pages of the national papers, and that will only happen when we come out of the EU on 31 October, and that is what I am calling on all my fellow MPs to do."
But asked directly whether he would consider suspending Parliament to halt MPs from blocking a no-deal, he added: "I think that it's the job of every MP in Parliament to get this thing done - and by the way it's what our friends and partners on the other side of the Channel want.
"I rely on parliamentarians to do the right thing and honour the pledge that they made to the people of this country."
"Marginally more optimistic"
Meanwhile, Mr Johnson said he was "marginally more optimistic" about the chances of striking a deal following meetings with EU leaders in Berlin and Paris despite on-going discussions on how to remove the controversial Irish backstop proposal from any new deal.
He said: "Remember that all statistical estimates that I give about the chances of a deal - whether they are expressed in odds of millions to one, or getting closer, or hotter or colder, or whatever - they all depend exclusively on the willingness of our friends and partners to compromise on that crucial point and to get rid of the backstop and the current withdrawal agreement."
"I think that our German friends and our French friends have certainly listened very carefully to what we have had to say,” he added. "It all depends on how seriously they wish to get a deal."
His remarks come ahead of fresh meetings between the UK's "Brexit sherpa" David Frost and senior EU officials to discuss alternative arrangements for Northern Ireland border plan.
It is hoped the dicussions can help break the impasse over the backstop ahead of planned meetings between Mr Johnson and EU Council President Donald Tusk during a UN summit in the last week of September.
A senior British official told The Telegraph: "There have been a lot of discussions going on about [alternative arrangements to the backstop] at sherpa level, led by David Frost. I would expect there would be more conversations in the next few days."
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