Boris Johnson braced for ‘mother of all battles’ with Remainer MPs — to stop ‘block Brexit forever’ secret plot
BORIS Johnson is braced for “the mother of all battles” with Remainer MPs - to stop a secret plot to block Brexit forever.
The PM believes the “rabble alliance” is drawing up emergency laws to overturn the referendum result or ask the courts to do it for them.
But he has told aides the “zombie” Parliament is broken and will be unable to agree anything but a further delay.
Defiant Mr Johnson will spell out his determination to leave - deal or no deal - on October 31 when he meets EU chiefs in Luxembourg on Monday.
He will accuse Brexit-wrecking MPs of “peddling a myth” that he has no intention of striking a deal and will insist he is “straining” to clinch one.
The PM is expected to tell European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker: “Don’t be fooled by Corbyn and the ringleaders.
“On the one hand they say I don’t want a deal. On the other, they want to force me to extend. Both are wrong. I am straining to get a deal, but I will also end the uncertainty and take us out on October 31.”
BOJO TAKES FIGHT TO BRUSSELS
Mr Johnson and his Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay will meet Mr Juncker and the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier with just 45 days left until the deadline.
Over a lunch of snails, salmon and cheese, he will warn he will not seek, negotiate nor accept a further delay.
He will warn them bluntly: “There should be no doubt about my determination to take us out on October 31.
“I will not ask for an extension. I absolutely believe that our friends in Europe want an orderly exit so now is the time for serious talks.”
Mr Johnson aims to give the EU a wake-up call and demonstrate they must reach a deal fast to secure an orderly exit.
'CRAZY LAB AND KAMIKAZE TORIES'
The PM is prepared for crazy action by Labour MPs and “kamikaze” Tories when he defies their “Surrender Act” forcing him to seek a delay.
He believes their next step after he refuses to seek a further extension will be the “nuclear option” of revoking Article 50 – and killing Brexit stone dead.
Such a move would prove widely-held suspicions that their constant dither and delay was an excuse to keep Britain locked in the EU for ever.
It sets the scene for a dramatic High Noon climax to the most turbulent and unpredictable period in modern political history.
Polls show that 30 per cent of the country want to stop Brexit but more than 52 per cent think the 2016 referendum result must be honoured.
A Downing Street source said: “We expect there to be a major court battle after October 19 and attempts to pass legislation revoking Article 50, which the Prime Minister will refuse to consider in any circumstances.
“Conservative MPs who want another delay don’t understand that this would probably destroy the party and put Corbyn into No10.”
Chance of deal rises, writes James Cleverly
WHILE some Remain MPs choose to post sad-faced selfies in Parliament, instead of taking the time to get to know their constituents and the fact most want Brexit delivered, the Government has been getting on with negotiating a deal. We know that the British public want us to deliver on the referendum result.
Our Brexit Secretary, Steve Barclay, has been travelling between European capitals negotiating to get us the deal we’ve been working for since Boris became Prime Minister.
We’ve been making real progress. The chances of getting a deal are rising. That’s because EU leaders can see we want a deal. And they can see that if we don’t get a deal, we’re ready to leave without one.
We will be leaving the EU on October 31 whatever the circumstances. No ifs, no buts. We must respect the referendum result. We would prefer to leave with a deal and we are working in an energetic and determined way to get one.
The Prime Minister will go to the crucial EU summit on October 17 and strive to get an agreement in the national interest.
Meanwhile, Corbyn and Labour MPs are undermining our chances of leaving – with or without a deal. Their Brexit position changes by the week. Last week, Richard Burgon, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, explained to a baffled interviewer on BBC News that in Government, Labour would renegotiate a Brexit deal only to campaign against it in a second referendum.
And last Thursday, Labour’s shadow Foreign Secretary, Emily Thornberry, confirmed that she too would campaign against any Brexit deal her party was able to come up with. Confronted with the blatant contradiction between this and her party’s manifesto commitment to respect the referendum result, she simply nodded along. This doesn’t escape the public’s attention - they spot the duplicity.
This is the same Emily Thornberry, by the way, who last year said that overturning the result would effectively be telling voters ‘we think you’re wrong, you made the wrong decision, we’re going to do something else.’
Corbyn and his democracy-denying friends have now forced through a law that would force us to beg the EU for a delay - frustrating 17.4 million Brexit voters.
And Corbyn has form when it comes to breaking his promises. Having campaigned on a promise to write-off student debt, he subsequently said he didn’t mean it. Having pledged to respect the referendum result he now wants to overturn it. And despite having called for a general election at least 35 times since 2017, he decided against it when given the opportunity to have one.
This means more delay and more uncertainty for our economy, which means peoples’ priorities would be ignored – priorities like the NHS, police and schools - the areas the PM is delivering on.
We must give people an opportunity to tell the political establishment one last time: we had a referendum, you promised to act, now get this done.
That’s why we are making the necessary preparations to be ready to fight an election and win it - putting Conservative HQ on a war footing, and ensuring our staff in the field are ready to fight the ground campaign that will come - despite Corbyn’s best efforts to hide from voters.
Sun on Sunday readers will remember that Corbyn ran away. That he tried to stop an election happening. That he’s trying to stop Brexit – and without letting voters judge his actions at the ballot box.
But an election will come, and voters will remember. And while he runs, we’ll continue working to get a deal and deliver on the referendum result.
- James Cleverly, Conservative party chairman
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