New BoJo no go with Parliament

Forced to delay Brexit

Britain’s Parliament voted Saturday to delay Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal, handing the prime minister a humiliating defeat.

The 322-306 vote forced Johnson to seek another delay, but the defiant prime minister said he will push ahead for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union on time as planned.

And in a characteristically rebellious gesture, when Johnson (inset) sent the required letter to the EU requesting a Brexit delay, he neglected to sign it.

Johnson did affix his signature to a second letter — which stated that he believes a delay would be a mistake.

Parliament passed a law last month which forces Johnson to send the EU a letter seeking a three-month postponement of the Oct. 31 Brexit deadline — something Johnson has said he didn’t want to do.

European Council President Donald Tusk tweeted he’d received the letters and will “start consulting EU leaders on how to react.”

Although he asked for the delay as required, Johnson was unyielding.

“I will not negotiate a delay with the EU and neither does the law compel me to do so,” he said.

“I will tell our friends and colleagues in the EU exactly what I’ve told everyone in the last 88 days that I’ve served as prime minister: that further delay would be bad for this country, bad for the European Union and bad for democracy.”

Saturday’s vote mandated that all of the legislation needed to implement Brexit be passed before a vote is held on Johnson’s plan.

If the UK exits the EU without an agreed-upon plan for the governmental divorce, it could ravage the British economy, experts have said.

Parliament’s Saturday vote was intended to prevent such a “no-deal” Brexit, which Johnson threatened would happen if his plan wasn’t OK’d. Johnson said he will introduce the legislation to push through his deal in the coming days. He still believes he can command “overwhelming” support.