Boris strikes back ‘Let’s get Brexit done and let’s take this country forward’
BRITISH Prime Minister Boris Johnson is considering bringing in a “one-line Bill” to change UK law and call a snap election to get rid of the “zombie” parliament that he says is intent on blocking Brexit.
Mr Johnson has shrugged off an embarrassing Supreme Court loss in which he was found to have misled the Queen with illegal advice to suspend Parliament. In a blistering performance in the House of Commons early yesterday (Australian time), he turned the tables on Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, demanding he call an election.
The PM claimed Labour and other opposition MPS, and some of his former colleagues, wanted to stop Britain leaving the European Union altogether.
“This Parliament will keep delaying, will keep sabotaging negotiations because they don’t want a deal,” he said.
“The electorate are being held captive by this zombie Parliament and this zombie Opposition. And he (Corbyn) wants the entire country to be held captive in the EU after October 31 at a cost of more than £1 billion a month.
“We say ‘No!’ I say ‘No!’ Let’s get Brexit done and let’s take this country forward.”
Conservative MPS cheered and clapped Mr Johnson after his speech, making it one of the high points of his short term, in which he has lost six consecutive Commons votes. Downing St then challenged Labour and opposition parties to call an election, saying if they did not Mr Johnson would take it as an endorsement of his plans to deliver Brexit on October 31 without a deal.
A no-deal Brexit is expected to cause chaos, including food shortages in the UK, and hurt European economies too, particularly Ireland’s.
Mr Johnson’s team, including those behind the disastrous suspension of Parliament, were planning to get creative again to force an election.
Britain’s Fixed Term Parliaments Act requires twothirds of MPS to vote to call an election, usually every five years.
But scrapping that law with a “one-line Bill” would mean Mr Johnson only needs half of the votes in the house, which he might have the numbers to win. Mr Johnson lost his Commons majority after he sacked 21 MPS for voting against a no-deal Brexit.
Mr Corbyn said Mr Johnson’s statement was “10 minutes of bluster from a dangerous Prime Minister who thinks he is above the law”. He added: “In truth, he is not fit for the office that he holds.”