Johnson, MPs hold crisis talks
BRITISH Prime Minister Boris Johnson gathered his cabinet for crisis talks yesterday as he frantically hunted for a way out of the Remainer trap.
Senior ministers assembled in Number 10 after Johnson suffered his latest disastrous defeat in the Commons – with members of Parliament refusing his plea for a snap election.
The huge setback came just hours before Parliament was suspended until mid-October in extraordinary scenes, with Remainers staging protests and the Speaker condemning the move.
Labour is now threatening to delay an election until well into December in a bid to destroy Johnson’s “do or die” vow to deliver Brexit by October 31. A rebel law passed by MPs and peers means he must beg Brussels for an extension if he has not sealed an agreement by October 19 – something he has said he will never do.
Johnson seemingly ruled out resigning over the next few weeks last night as he raged at “yellow belly” Jeremy Corbyn for blocking an election, saying he would go to a crunch EU summit on October 17 and try to reach an agreement in the ‘national interest’.
In an apparent sign that Johnson is running out of ideas, there is mounting speculation that he could try to revive the Northern Ireland-only backstop proposed by the EU nearly three years ago.
However, it could allow the rest of the UK to strike a looser Canada-style trade agreement with the EU, while ensuring there would be no hard border on the island of Ireland.
Foster flatly rejected the prospect yesterday, saying: “What we’re focused on is about getting a deal that works for the whole of the UK, one that works for Northern Ireland, one that does not have Northern Ireland hived off into a different customs union than the rest of the UK, breaking up the single market of the UK.”
Downing Street also insisted a Northern Ireland-only was not under consideration. Number 10 said the PM began cabinet by updating ministers on his “constructive discussions” with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar on Monday.
Meanwhile, a poll on Tuesday found 52% of Leave voters want him simply to break the Remainer law against No-Deal. But the wider public say he should instead ask for an extension, by 50% to 28%.
After the bruising result in the Commons early yesterday, Johnson vowed that he will defy the “device” of the new Remainer law against No-Deal and stick to his vow to get the UK out by October 31.
Johnson said opposition parties had decided they “know better” than the public. He insisted he would go to an EU summit on October 17 and “strive to get an agreement in the national interest… this government will not delay Brexit any further”.
Johnson again failed to gain enough support in the Commons for a snap poll. He fell well short of the required two-thirds of MPs – 434 – with backing from just 293.
Parliament is now prorogued until mid-October – meaning a national vote is highly unlikely to happen before mid-November. Johnson is scrambling to find a way of sidestepping rebel legislation ordering him to beg the EU for an extension if no agreement has been agreed by October 19.
Labour declared class war on Johnson yesterday as Corbyn accused him of wanting Brexit for his “rich friends”.
Meanwhile, the party’s union paymaster, Len McCluskey, ramped up the rhetoric even further, saying at a conference in Brighton that Labour would fight for “the overwhelming majority who do the work and pay their taxes – not the few at the top who hoard the wealth and dodge their taxes”.