Johnson ‘will send EU delay letter’

PM stands by October 31 exit date despite rebuff from member states

Boris Johnson insisted that he will not delay Brexit, despite his lawyers saying he will comply with a law calling for the October 31 exit date to be postponed if there is no deal.

The prime minister accepted he must send a letter requesting a delay to Brexit beyond the Halloween deadline if no deal is agreed with Parliament by October 19, Scotland’s highest civil court heard.

But Mr Johnson later said the options facing the country were his proposed new Brexit deal or leaving without an agreement, “but no delay”.

However, the chances of his new proposals succeeding were dealt a heavy blow by Brussels, as EU member states agreed they “do not provide a basis for concluding an agreement”.

A European Commission spokesman said discussions between the two sides would not take place this weekend but the UK will be given “another opportunity to present its proposals in detail” on Monday.

“Michel Barnier debriefed COREPER (The Permanent Representatives Committee) yesterday, where member states agreed that the UK proposals do not provide a basis for concluding an agreement,” the spokesman added.

The prime minister has previously said “we will obey the law” but will also leave on October 31 in any circumstance, without specifying how he would achieve the apparently contradictory goals – fuelling speculation that he had identified a loophole to get around the Benn Act.

Any extension to the Article 50 process – the mechanism by which the UK leaves the EU – would have to be agreed by all 27 other EU leaders.

The legal action asked the court to require Mr Johnson to seek an extension to avoid leaving the EU without a deal.

Andrew Webster QC, representing the UK Government, said the documents it has submitted to the court are a “clear statement” as to what the prime minister will do.

Jolyon Maugham QC, one of those leading the action, told the PA news agency the prime minister’s submission said “he would send the letter mandated by the Benn Act” and would not “frustrate” attempts to get an extension.

He added: “We want to see the courts tell him that ‘unless you send the letter, no later than October 19, unless you cease trying to frustrate Parliament’s intention, there will be personal consequences for you, you could go to prison’.”

If Mr Johnson – who wants an early election – did request a delay it could play into the hands of the Brexit Party.

The party’s leader, Nigel Farage, said: “Boris said we would leave by October 31 ‘do or die’. Why does he keep saying things that are not true?”

Ireland’s premier Leo Varadkar said he would agree to an extension if Mr Johnson requested it.

“I’ve always said that Brexit doesn’t end with the UK leaving, it’s just the next phase of negotiations, but if the UK were to request an extension, we would consider it, most EU countries would only consider it for good reason, but an extension would be better than no deal,” he said.