- Boris Johnson is facing frantic efforts by Remainers to prevent No Deal Brexit
- The PM warned they were reducing chances of getting a good deadl from EU
- Speaker John Bercow has been discussing options for binding the PM’s hands
Boris Johnson read the riot act to Remainer rebels today warning they are making a Brexit deal less likely.
The PM said the frantic efforts by MPs to block No Deal made the EU less likely to compromise on the Withdrawal Agreement.
When deciding whether to give ground, European leaders would have ‘at the back of their minds’ the idea that Brexit could still be cancelled.
The stark message, in a round of broadcast interviews, came after Tories confirmed they have been discussing with Speaker John Bercow how they could try to bind the PM’s hands.
Mr Bercow interrupted his family holiday in Turkey to issue an extraordinary tirade at Mr Johnson for announcing that Parliament will be prorogued .
Critics have accused the premier of trying to dodge scrutiny and flout the will of MPs, but the government insists it is merely a routine procedure ahead of a new Queen’s Speech in October.
Mr Johnson complained that MPs had already spent three years debating Brexit ‘without actually getting it over the line’.
‘I am afraid that the more our friends and partners think the at the back of their minds that Brexit could be stopped, that the UK could be kept in by Parliament, the less likely they are to give us the deal that we need,’ he told Sky News.
Boris Johnson (pictured in No10 today) said the frantic efforts by MPs to block No Deal made the EU less likely to compromise on the Withdrawal Agreement.
Sir John Major today dramatically threw his weight behind a legal bid to stop Boris Johnson from suspending Parliament in the run-up to Brexit.
The former PM said he was joining a judicial review of the move that is being brought by Gina Miller.
Sir John said it was not acceptable for Mr Johnson to prevent MPs from ‘opposing Brexit plans’.
Remain campaigner Ms Miller has lodged the case at the High Court in London and it is being considered’, according to a judiciary spokeswoman.
It is one of three separate legal efforts to derail the government’s strategy.
The clashes come amid frantic efforts by MPs to prevent the UK from crashing out of the EU at the end of October.
The stage is set for a huge battle next week, with the Opposition and more than a dozen Conservatives joining forces to try to bind the PM’s hands.
Meanwhile, the government has signalled it will use all measures possible to ensure the country leaves the bloc on schedule, with or without a deal.
Tory former cabinet minister Oliver Letwin today insisted there was still time to pass legislation that could force the premier to delay the Brexit date, even if Parliament is prorogued for more than a month from the middle of September.
Sir Oliver said he hoped that by the end of next week Mr Johnson would know that he must seek an extension. He also confirmed he had been discussing the options with Speaker John Bercow.
Sir John Major (left) today dramatically threw his weight behind a legal bid to stop Boris Johnson from suspending Parliament in the run-up to Brexit. Irish deputy Simon Coveney (right) said there was no new ‘credible’ proposal from the UK on the backstop
Tory former cabinet minister Oliver Letwin (pictured in Westminster last week) today insisted there was still time to pass legislation that could force the premier to delay the Brexit date
Allies of Mr Bercow have suggested he is on a ‘suicide mission’, and is ready to bend procedure rules to help Remainer MPs in the fight with the government.
Dublin ramped up Brexit tensions today by again dismissing Mr Johnson’s call for the hated backstop to be ditched.
Irish deputy PM Simon Coveney insisted the PM had not offered a ‘credible’ alternative, and the idea of settling the issue after the UK leaves was ‘not going to fly’.
In an apparent attempt to assuage rebel Tories, Downing Street has said the UK’s team of Brexit negotiators will sit down with their EU counterparts twice a week during September ‘with the possibility of additional technical meetings, to discuss a way forward on securing a new deal’.
But Mr Coveney told reporters in Helsinki today: ‘At the moment nothing credible has come from the British Government in the context of an alternative to the backstop.
‘If that changes, great, we will look at it in Dublin, but more importantly it can be the basis of a discussion in Brussels.
‘But it has got to be credible. It can’t simply be this notion that ‘look, we must have the backstop removed and we will solve this problem in the future negotiation’ without any credible way of doing that.
‘That’s not going to fly and it’s important that we are all honest about that.’
source:dailymail