Parliament recall urged
Brexit: PM denies lying to Queen
LONDON: Boris Johnson has denied lying to the Queen over the suspension of Parliament, insisting such claims were ‘‘absolutely not’’ true.
The prime minister, asked whether he lied to the monarch after the Court of Session in Edinburgh said advice given by ministers to the Queen which led to the fiveweek prorogation was unlawful, said: ‘‘Absolutely not.’’.
‘‘The High Court in England plainly agrees with us but the Supreme Court will have to decide.
‘‘We need a Queen’s Speech, we need to get on and do all sorts of things at a national level.’’
‘‘Parliament will have time both before and after that crucial summit on October 17 and 18 to talk about the Brexit deal,’’ he added.
‘‘I’m very hopeful that we will get a deal, as I say, at that crucial summit. We’re working very hard — I’ve been around the European capitals talking to our friends
‘‘I think we can see the rough area of a landing space, of how you can do it — it will be tough, it will be hard, but I think we can get there.’’
Johnson faced renewed pressure to recall Parliament yesterday after he was forced to reveal that a nodeal Brexit could trigger medical shortages, food price rises and major crosschannel trade delays.
The opposition seized on the release of Operation Yellowhammer assessments of the impact of leaving the EU without an agreement to insist MPs return to Westminster.
While releasing analysis on impacts of no deal, the government refused to comply with a similar Commons demand to make public personal messages from special advisers regarding the prorogation of Parliament.
The ‘‘reasonable worst case planning assessments’’ of a nodeal exit, which were released at the demand of MPs, showed major holdups at channel ports could occur, along with ‘‘significant’’ electricity price rises and a return to a hard border in Northern Ireland.
On food, the document warned some fresh supplies would decrease and ‘‘critical dependencies for the food chain’’ such as key ingredients ‘‘may be in shorter supply’’.
It said these factors would not lead to overall food shortages,
‘‘but will reduce the availability and choice of products and will increase price, which could impact vulnerable groups’’.
‘‘Lowincome groups will be disproportionately affected by any price rises in food and fuel,’’ the document also said.
The analysis said the flow of crossChannel goods could be reduced to 40% of current rates on day one, with ‘‘significant disruption lasting up to six months’’.
‘‘Unmitigated, this will have an impact on the supply of medicines and medical supplies,’’ the document said. — BPA