Johnson defends himself against raucous Parliament
LONDON — An unrepentant Prime Minister Boris Johnson brushed off cries of “Resign!” and dared his foes to try to topple him Wednesday at a raucous session of Parliament, a day after Britain’s highest court ruled he acted illegally in suspending the body ahead of the Brexit deadline.
Amid shouts, angry gestures and repeated cries of “Order!” in the House of Commons, Johnson emphatically defended his intention to withdraw Britain from the European Union on Oct. 31, with or without a separation agreement with the EU.
“I say it is time to get Brexit done,” he declared, accusing his opponents of trying to frustrate the will of the people, who in 2016 voted 52% to 48% to leave the 28-nation bloc.
Johnson was greeted with applause from his ownConservative lawmakers and jeers from the opposition side as he arrived in the Commons, hours after cutting short a trip to the United Nations in New York.
He flew home early after Britain’s Supreme Court unanimously ruled Tuesday that his attempt to suspend Parliament for five weeks had the effect of stymieing its scrutiny of the government over Brexit. The court declared the suspension void.
The leader of the main opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, said the prime minister is not fit to govern and “should have done the honorable thing and resigned” after the ruling. He said Johnson “thinks he is above the law” and has shown “no shred of remorse or humility.”
“Have you no shame, prime minister?” said Ian Blackford, the Scottish National Party’s leader in Parliament. Labour lawmaker Jess Phillips urged Johnson “to act with some humility and contrition.”
Members of Parliament accused him of showing disrespect for the rule of law and deceiving Queen Elizabeth II when he asked for her permission to prorogue, or suspend, Parliament. Over and over, they called on him to say he was sorry.
But Johnson ignored calls to step down or apologize, showing no sign of contrition during the more than three-hour questionand-answer session. He said he disagreed with the Supreme Court’s 11-0 ruling, and he repeatedly refused to rule out the possibility of suspending Parliament again.
The prime minister said a new election is the only way to unblock Britain’s “paralyzed Parliament.”
“I think the people of this country have had enough of it. This Parliament must either stand aside and let this government get Brexit done or bring a vote of confidence and finally face the day of reckoning with the voters,” he said.
Economists have warned that leaving the EU without a deal could disrupt Britain’s trade with the Continent, plunge the country into a recession and cause shortages of food and medicine.
But Britain has been unable to negotiate a separation agreement with the EU that is acceptable to Parliament. Johnson said Wednesday he still hopes to work out a deal but will pull the country out of the EU without an agreement if one isn’t reached by the deadline.
Parliament has passed a law requiring Johnson to seek a Brexit extension if there is no deal, but he has said he won’t do that under any circumstances. He branded the law the “Surrender Act” and the “Humiliation Bill.”