Boris Johnson ‘absolutely’ rules out election before Brexit is delivered

Boris Johnson has “absolutely” ruled out calling an election before Britain has left the EU, as the PM was warned he has put himself on a “collision course” with the bloc.

Ireland’s deputy prime minister, Simon Coveney, said Mr Johnson’s comments in the Commons on Thursday – setting out his Brexit stance and opposition to the Irish border backstop – were “very unhelpful”.

“He seems to have made a deliberate decision to set Britain on a collision course with the European Union and with Ireland in relation to the Brexit negotiations,” Mr Coveney said.

“I think only he can answer the question as to why he is doing that.”

The criticism from Mr Coveney came as Mr Johnson “absolutely” ruled out calling an election before Brexit is delivered.

“The British people voted in 2015, in 2016, in 2017,” the PM said during a visit to a police training centre in Birmingham.

“What they want us to do is deliver on their mandate, come out of the EU on October 31.

“They don’t want another electoral event, they don’t want a referendum, they don’t want a general election. They want us to deliver.”

In his first address to MPs as prime minister, Mr Johnson said the deal Theresa May agreed with the EU was dead.

He reiterated his pledge to take Britain out of the bloc – deal or no deal – at the end of October.

And the PM demanded Brussels remove the controversial backstop – an insurance policy designed to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland – from the withdrawal agreement.

This was swiftly rejected by EU negotiator Michel Barnier, who said the demand was “unacceptable”.

Mr Johnson repeated that message in a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, Downing Street said.

“The purpose of the call was to congratulate the prime minister. They did discuss Brexit,” a spokesman said.

“When the prime minister has these conversations with fellow leaders and the discussion moves on to Brexit, he will be setting out the same message which he delivered in the House of Commons yesterday.

“He wants to do a deal. He will be energetic in trying to seek that deal, but the withdrawal agreement has been rejected three times by the House of Commons. It is not going to pass.

“That means reopening the withdrawal agreement and securing the abolition of the backstop.”

The Elysee Palace said the pair will “speak about Brexit in the coming weeks, in compliance with the requirements of the European Union”.

Mr Macron has invited him to visit Paris in the coming weeks.

The PM also spoke with German Chancellor Angela Merkel about Brexit and ties between London and Berlin.

Mrs Merkel has invited Mr Johnson to come to Berlin.

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Meanwhile, France’s Europe minister has voiced Paris’s opposition to renegotiating the Brexit deal.

“We have to be very clear on that,” Amelie de Montchalin told France 2.

“We’ve always said that if the UK wants to leave the EU, and if it wants to do it in an orderly manner, the best thing we have is the agreement.”

She said the “divorce agreement” had not been “imposed on the British” but came about after painstaking negotiations.

(c) Sky News 2019: Boris Johnson ‘absolutely’ rules out election before Brexit is delivered