Johnson dares MPs to remove him, calls court decision wrong

LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson challenged opposition members of parliament (MPs ) to try to remove him Wednesday

response to the Supreme Court’s ruling that his suspension of parliament was unlawful.

Britain’s highest court on Tuesday found the Conservative leader acted illegally in suspending, or proroguing, parliament for five weeks in the run-up to Brexit.

But Johnson showed no contrition as he faced the newly reconvened House of Commons, and repeated his vow to leave the European Union (EU) on October 31 with or without a deal with Brussels.

To cheers from his Conservative MPs and roars of outrage from the opposition benches, he condemned the court ruling as “wrong.”

Faced with calls to resign, he challenged the Labor and other opposition parties to call a consaying he would make time for it to be debated on Thursday.

“Will they have the courage to act or will they refuse to take responsibility and do nothing but dither and delay... what are they scared of?” he shouted across the chamber.

Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn declined the offer — even while calling on Johnson to resign, saying he was

Corbyn said he would not back an election until the prime minister’s threat of leaving the EU without a divorce deal was removed.

In the week before parliament was suspended earlier this month, MPs passed a law requiring Johnson to ask the EU to delay Brexit if he cannot get a deal.

“If he wants an election, get an extension and let’s have an election,” Corbyn said.

in July, says he suspended parliament until October 14 to launch a fresh legislative program.

But critics accused him of trying to silence MPs at a crucial time, with the terms of Brexit still undecided three years after the 2016 EU referendum.

On Tuesday, 11 Supreme Court judges unanimously ruled that the suspension was unlawful and therefore void, as it had frustrated parliament.

But Johnson, who flew back early from the UN General Assembly in New York to address MPs, accused lawmakers of trying to undermine Brexit.

Parliament was “gridlocked, paralysed and refusing to deliver on the priorities of the people,” he said.

“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 added.