PM defends broken ‘do or die’ vow

BORIS Johnson was forced to defend his ‘do or die’ Brexit pledge last night after the European Union gave Britain a three-month extension.

the Prime Minister made taking Britain out of the bloc by October 31 a central plank of his leadership campaign, promising to do it ‘no ifs, no buts’.

and last month Mr Johnson said he would ‘rather be dead in a ditch’ than see Brexit delayed again.

But his promise was effectively broken yesterday after EU states granted a socalled ‘flextension’ which could see Britain stuck in the bloc until January 31.

If Britain is still in the EU then, it will have been more than 1,300 days since the UK voted to leave in June 23, 2016.

Even after MPs had passed a controversial law requiring Mr Johnson to seek an extension, he continued to insist the UK was ‘going to come out on October 31’.

But he was defiant about the repeatedly broken promise last night, blaming Parliament during a speech in the Commons and in a letter to European Council president Donald tusk, in which he formally accepted the three-month delay.

In the letter, he even urged the EU to spell out to Britain that another delay beyond

January 31 ‘is not possible’. ‘It will avoid this Parliament simply extending our membership again and again,’ he wrote.

In the Commons, the PM said there was a ‘tantalising moment’ last week when MPs voted by a majority of 30 in favour of his Brexit deal. But he blasted them for then voting down the ‘programme motion’ which would have fast-tracked the Withdrawal Bill through the Commons in time for the October 31 deadline.

Jabbing his finger at the Opposition benches, he said: ‘the people of this country can see the reality. they [Labour] aren’t interested in scrutinising or debating Brexit, they just want to delay Brexit and cancel Brexit.’ he insisted Britain needed a December General Election to shake up the parliamentary arithmetic to get Brexit done, adding: ‘I simply do not believe that this house is capable of delivering on the priorities of the people, whether that means Brexit or anything else.’

Downing Street said No Deal planning would continue despite the fresh extension – the third since Britain was originally due to leave on March 29.

Eurosceptic tory MP Craig Mackinlay dubbed the latest delay ‘ foul and unwanted’, but joined Mr Johnson in blaming the ‘disgraceful’ conduct of MPs.

the ‘flextension’ was given the green light yesterday morning after French president Emmanuel Macron dropped his opposition to it. It has a flexible end date which could see Britain leave by December 1 or January 1 if Mr Johnson’s deal is passed by Parliament before the deadline.

EU member states yesterday welcomed avoiding a No Deal Brexit but urged Britain to use the extra time ‘wisely’.