Johnson to take Brexit battle back
Prime Minister ready to appeal to judges in person not to make him delay leaving EU
LONDON — Boris Johnson is prepared to launch a legal action in his attempts to ensure Britain can leave the European Union this month with no deal.
Several government sources have told The Daily Telegraph that the Prime Minister is willing to go to the Supreme Court in an effort to avoid having to write a letter asking for a delay to Brexit, as set out in the Benn Act.
It raises the possibility that Johnson could give evidence in the court case in an attempt to persuade judges in person against forcing him to ask the EU for a Brexit delay.
A senior government source said it was vital that Johnson was forced to write the letter delaying Brexit rather than agreeing to do so voluntarily.
The source said government needed to find a legal mechanism to allow the prime minister to “at least say five days before (Oct. 31) ‘I am literally not going to write that letter’.
“The real drama would be if Boris were in court calling it ‘the Surrender Act,’” the source said.
“He would almost be happy if the judge said ‘you can’t call it that’.”
The plan to take legal action comes a fortnight after justices in the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Mr Johnson’s decision to suspend Parliament for five weeks was unlawful.
The Benn Act — officially the EU Withdrawal (No 2) Act but named after its architect, Hilary Benn, the Labour MP — requires Johnson to ask the EU to delay Brexit if the U.K. cannot leave with a deal at the end of October.
The Court of Session in Scotland will rule Monday on what kind of sanctions would apply if ministers fail to comply with the Benn legislation, which Johnson dubbed the “Surrender Act”.
Mr Johnson has repeatedly said that the U.K. will leave the EU on Oct. 31, while at the same accepting that the government will abide by the Benn legislation which requires him to write a letter asking for a delay if there is no deal at next week’s EU summit.
Yesterday, Stephen Barclay, the Brexit Secretary, refused three times on The Andrew Marr Show on BBC One, to say whether Johnson would write the letter, instead insisting “that the government will abide by the law”.
The prospect of a return to the Supreme Court would again see Johnson’s government at the mercy of Supreme Court judges including Baroness Hale, the court’s president.
Lady Hale’s impartiality was called into question over the weekend after she was filmed in front of screen which mocked Johnson over his Supreme Court defeat.
She also made mocking reference to his “girly swot” remarks to describe predecessor David Cameron.
The proposed legal fight comes as Johnson’s attempt to take Britain out of the EU with a deal looks increasingly unlikely to succeed.
Reaction from EU leaders suggested that Johnson’s proposal — which includes keeping Northern Ireland in the single market but outside the customs union — could collapse this week.
Johnson is expected to meet with Emmanuel Macron, the French president, and Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, later this week in a bid to persuade them to urge the EU to enter serious talks about his offer.
Last night, he warned Macron that EU leaders should “not be lured into the mistaken belief that the U.K. will stay in the EU” and take his offer seriously.
Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, is set to meet the leaders of other opposition parties to scrutinize the new Brexit proposals.