Mixed message: Johnson seeks Brexit delay, sort of

LONDON » British Prime Minister Boris Johnson pressed ahead Sunday with plans to try to win parliamentary backing for his new Brexit deal even as the European Union began considering his grudging request to extend the looming Brexit deadline.

As the dust settled on a day of high drama in Parliament, the next steps in Britain’s divisive, tortuous Brexit saga became clear. Today will feature more legal action, more arm-twisting, cajoling and veiled threats by Johnson and his ministers and more amendments designed by lawmakers to stymie Johnson’s plan to have Britain leave the 28-nation bloc on Oct. 31.

In the midst of all this, EU leaders and officials across the Channel were pondering whether to grant the British leader a Brexit extension that he does not even want.

As required by law, Johnson sent a letter to the EU Saturday seeking a delay to Britain’s impending Oct. 31 departure. He waited until the last possible moment, withheld his signature and immediately followed it with a signed letter indicating that he doesn’t favor another Brexit extension.

“My view, and the government’s position, (is) that a further extension would damage the interests of the U.K. and our EU partners, and the relationship between us,” Johnson wrote to European Council President Donald Tusk.

His decision to send a second letter saying he doesn’t really want an extension is likely to face court challenges from opponents who believe he intentionally set out to block Parliament’s intent even if he technically complied with legal requirements.

Johnson has long declared that he plans to take the U.K. out of the EU on Oct. 31 with or without a divorce deal, and his minister in charge of Brexit again emphasized that stance.

“We are going to leave by Oct. 31st,” Michael Gove told Sky News on Sunday. “We have the means and the ability to do so.”

The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, said Tusk would consult with other leaders “in the next days” about Johnson’s request, but most signs indicate the EU would prefer an extension to an abrupt no-deal Brexit.

Finnish Prime Minister Antti Rinne, whose country holds the European Union’s rotating presidency, said Sunday “it makes sense to allow extra time.”