'I'd rather be dead in a ditch': PM on Brexit delay as brother resigns
The PM has had a bruising week that has seen him suffer damaging parliamentary defeats and the resignation of his own brother.
Thursday 5 September 2019 22:40, UK
Boris Johnson has declared he would "rather be dead in a ditch" than ask for a delay to Brexit.
In a bid to come out fighting after a bruising week in which he has suffered four damaging parliamentary defeats and seen his own brother quit his government, the prime minister renewed his call for a snap election.
Speaking in Yorkshire, Mr Johnson said he "did not want an election at all", but "frankly I cannot see any other way".
"The only way to get this thing done, to get this thing moving, is to make that decision," the PM said.
The PM failed in his bid to get MPs to vote for an election on Wednesday, the latest setback in a tumultuous week.
A cross-party alliance of MPs, including more than a dozen Tories, seized control of the Commons agenda and passed legislation which seeks to avoid a no-deal Brexit on 31 October.
Mr Johnson has pledged to deliver Brexit on that date, with or without a deal, but that promise appears to be on shaky ground given recent events.
Asked if he could promise voters that he would not ask for a further delay to Britain's EU exit, the PM responded: "Yes, I can.
"I would rather be dead in a ditch."
But Mr Johnson declined to give a direct answer when asked if he would resign rather than request an extension to Article 50, the legal process for a country to leave the EU.
There was more bad news for the PM when his brother Jo quit as a government minister and an MP.
Jo Johnson, who backed Remain in the 2016 referendum, cited an "unresolvable tension" between "family loyalty and the "national interest".
Asked about his brother's decision, the PM described Jo as "fantastic guy" and a "brilliant minister".
The PM said his brother "does not agree with me about the European Union because it's an issue that obviously divides families and divides everybody".
He added: "What Jo would agree is that we need to get on and sort this thing out."
The reason for Mr Johnson's visit to Yorkshire was the launch of the government's pledge to recruit 20,000 police officers over the next three years.
The PM said he hates "banging on" about Brexit, but the issue dominated his speech.
He said he would "make sure that we don't have that unnecessary delay".
Mr Johnson added: "I'm going to do everything that I possibly can to make sure that this country comes out of the EU on 31 October, but unfortunately parliament voted yesterday effectively to scupper our negotiating power and to make it much more difficult for this government to get a deal.
"So what I want to do now is to really give the country a choice: we either go forward with our plan to get a deal, take the country out on 31 October which we can or else somebody else should be allowed to see if they can keep us in beyond 31 October."
The government's motion for an election did not get the required support of two-thirds of MPs in Wednesday's vote.
Leader of the Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg has confirmed the government will try again on Monday.
Jeremy Corbyn's Labour and the other opposition parties want to wait until the no-deal Brexit legislation has formally become law before voting for an election.
There are also calls from some opposition MPs for the parties to withhold support for a motion in favour of a poll until the PM has formally been granted an extension by EU leaders at a summit on 17 and 18 October.
Mr Corbyn said in the Commons on Wednesday that the offer of an election now was "a bit like the offer of an apple to Snow White from the Wicked Queen".
He added: "What the prime minister is offering is not an apple or even an election, but the poison of a no deal.
"I repeat what I said last night. Let this bill pass and gain Royal Assent, and then we will back an election so we do not crash out of the European Union with a no-deal exit."
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Referring to Mr Corbyn, Mr Johnson said: "Do you want this government to take us out on October 31 or do you want Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party to go to that crucial summit in Brussels on October 17, effectively hand over control to the EU and keep us in beyond October 31?
"I think it's a no-brainer and I'm sorry to bring this painful subject up this afternoon but that's the reality of what we face and for me there can only be one way forward for our country."
There was further controversy for the PM on Thursday, with Mr Johnson accused of abusing his power by speaking about Brexit in front of lines of new police recruits.
He was condemned as having used the student officers as an "inappropriate" backdrop as part of a "political stunt" when he made a speech which included references to a possible election and an attack on Mr Corbyn.
West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Mark Burns-Williamson has called for an apology.