MPs threaten legal action over Boris Johnson’s refusal to seek no-deal Brexit delay

MPs trying to avoid no-deal are threatening to take legal action if the prime minister refuses to seek a delay to Brexit.

A bill passed by the House of Lords yesterday would compel Boris Johnson to ask for an extension.

But in a message sent to Conservative members last night, Mr Johnson said that is something he would “never do”.

The so-called ‘Rebel Alliance’ of those recently kicked out of the party and opposition MPs has assembled a legal team and is prepared to go to court to enforce the law.

A source close to them said it was a “necessity” because the prime minister had “in no uncertain terms” indicated he had “no intention of complying with the law”.

The cross-party bill – which requires the prime minister to ask Brussels to delay Brexit until January unless a deal is agreed by 19 October or MPs back no-deal – is expected to become law on Monday.

The source said the “trigger date” of 19 October was chosen in the Brexit delay bill because it provides the “minimum possible time to take the PM and government through the complex legal process”.

Mr Johnson has said he would rather “be dead in a ditch” than comply with the order, and promised to deliver Brexit on 31 October “come what may”.

Asked by reporters on Friday if he would follow the legislation when it becomes law, he said: “I will not. I don’t want a delay.”

He followed up that pledge in an email to Tory members saying parliament “just passed a law that would force me to beg Brussels for an extension to the Brexit deadline”, adding: “This is something I will never do.”

If Mr Johnson refuses to comply with the law, he could be held in contempt of court or jailed.

The prime minister is returning to London today to consider his next move in the Brexit crisis, cutting short his visit with partner Carrie Symonds to the Queen at her Scottish holiday home.

Some ministers are said to be urging Mr Johnson to reconcile with the 21 MPs he sacked from the party after they voted against him.

According to The Times, senior government figures believe the prime minister needs to “come up with a plan B” and distance himself from the Eurosceptic wing of the party, after the opposition boxed him in and blocked his call for a snap general election.

Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the SNP and Plaid Cymru met on Friday to agree to block Mr Johnson’s election request, two days after a similar motion was defeated because it failed to meet the two-thirds threshold required.

One cabinet minister told The Times: “Boris needs to make peace with the Tory rebels and get serious about making a deal with Brussels, even if that means throwing the Spartans [nickname given to the hardline Brexiteers] under a bus.

“Dominic Cummings, Mr Johnson’s senior adviser, may be very clever but his plan has failed. We now need a plan B.”

But Home Secretary Priti Patel was scathing about Jeremy Corbyn’s decision to block an election.

Writing in The Telegraph, she accused him of showing a “disdain for democracy” and causing “bewilderment and anger” among voters.

Tory MP Kevin Hollinrake also dismissed the idea of the prime minister ignoring the law as “nonsense”.

“Even if it was under consideration, which I’m sure it’s not, you would see a very significant number of Conservative MPs resigning the whip, including me,” he tweeted.

Meanwhile, sacked Conservative Nicholas Soames has written a scathing piece in The Times, saying Mr Johnson is “nothing like” his grandfather Winston Churchill.

The prime minister is said to model himself on the World War Two hero, but his grandson said: “Winston Churchill was like Winston Churchill because of his experiences in life. Boris Johnson’s experience in life is telling a lot of porkies about the EU in Brussels and then becoming prime minister.”

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Sir Nicholas, who admitted he cried after finding out he was no longer a Conservative MP after 37 years, said Mr Johnson was not behaving like a statesman.

He said: “I think Churchill would have thought it extraordinary that we would have thought ourselves so successful, so powerful, so well thought of in the world that we could afford to give up this extraordinary relationship we have in this great EU.”

Sir Nicholas became one of many MPs to confirm this week they would be stepping down at the next election after the chaos in Westminster.

He also hit out at Jacob Rees-Mogg after he was spotted lounging on the front bench in the Commons this week saying: “He is an absolute fraud, he is a living example of what a moderately cut double-breasted suit and a decent tie can do with an ultra-posh voice and a bit of ginger stuck up his a***. You do not behave like that as leader of the house.”

He continued: “I thought it was b***** bad manners and he of all people should know better. He has had all the advantages and frankly nanny made a serious bish.

“I wanted to kick him firmly in the a*** and say, ‘What the hell do you think you are playing at? Sit up!'”

He also likened a recent Brexit speech by Mr Rees-Mogg to the “lowest form of student union hackery”.

(c) Sky News 2019: MPs threaten legal action over Boris Johnson’s refusal to seek no-deal Brexit delay