Johnson will not resign if defeated

Spokesman says PM will plough on with new Bills

Boris Johnson will not resign if MPs hand him another defeat by voting down his legislative agenda set out in the Queen’s Speech, Downing Street has said.

Number 10 also made it clear the prime minister could plough on to introduce all the Bills announced, even if Parliament rejected his government’s programme.

Mr Johnson used his first Queen’s Speech as PM yesterday to insist the government’s priority is delivering Brexit by the October 31 deadline.

A raft of anti-crime Bills also dominated the state opening of Parliament, which also saw legislation proposed on immigration and the environment.

Opposition leaders accused the PM of using the speech as a pre-election stunt to win over voters, while Jeremy Corbyn branded it a “farce”.

With Mr Johnson commanding no majority in the Commons after expelling 21 rebels who defied him over a no-deal Brexit, there is every chance his set piece announcement is defeated.

Asked if Mr Johnson would resign if he is handed such a blow, the prime minister’s official spokesman flatly replied: “No.”

The last time a government was defeated on a vote relating to a Queen’s speech was in 1924.

The spokesman also ruled out a defeat on the Queen’s Speech being a matter of confidence, which could pave the way for an early general election.

And asked whether the PM could continue to progress the Bills through Parliament even if the speech is defeated, his spokesman replied: “Yes, you can.”

When that vote will take place depends on how quickly debates take place and whether a special sitting of Parliament is held on Saturday for a showdown over Brexit.

But typically the speech is debated for six days, according to the House of Commons.

The Labour leader told the Commons: “There has never been such a farce as a government with a majority of -45 and a 100% record of defeat in the House of Commons setting out a legislative agenda they know cannot be delivered in this Parliament.”

He also suggested he could shortly back calls for a general election, saying “we may only be just weeks away” from a Queen’s Speech under a Labour government.

In a heavily-previewed package of 26 Bills, seven related to crime and justice. These included legislation to keep serious criminals in prison for longer, impose tougher sentences on foreign offenders who return to the UK and provide better protection for victims of domestic abuse.

On Brexit, the Queen said: “My government’s priority has always been to secure the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union on October 31.”

Ministers are preparing to rush through a Bill to ratify any Brexit deal Mr Johnson is able to agree this week in Brussels in time for Britain to leave on schedule.

Other measures outlined in the speech include strengthening environmental protections, improving the NHS, ending free movement of labour from the EU and raising living standards through increasing the national living wage to £10.50 an hour.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s defeat in the courts over Parliament’s longest prorogation in living memory was a humiliation. But Westminster’s second, much shorter, prorogation to enable a Queen’s Speech passed without fanfare.

The monarch yesterday set out a major legislative programme on behalf of her government.

It contained 26 bills covering subjects from the environment to criminal justice and family law.

But, of course, the prime minister’s vision for a postBrexit Britain was central, with seven bills brought forward covering areas from fishing to farming and finance.

Mr Johnson said the programme for government would allow the UK to seize the opportunities offered by Brexit.

In ordinary times, a Queen’s Speech would offer some certainty over the future direction of travel for the UK.

It would allow business, and the myriad tentacles of local and national government, to plot a course ahead.

But these are extraordinary times and, depending on the prevailing political winds, there is a real possibility that not a single word of the programme outlined may come to pass.

It is on shifting sands that Brexit – and ultimately the future of the UK – is being built.

The prime minister has days, not weeks, to deliver Brexit and make his vision a reality. His success, or otherwise, will determine whether the Queen’s Speech was little more than a grand manifesto launch ahead of a general election.