Boris Johnson will refuse to delay Brexit even if legally required

Joe Gamp
·Contributor, Yahoo News UK
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson takes his seat as he waits for an official photo with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu inside Downing Street in London, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2019. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, Pool)
Mr Johnson said he will refuse to extend Brexit until next year (AP)

Boris Johnson has said he will not delay Brexit, even if it is legally required for him to ask for an Article 50 extension.

When asked if he would not seek an extension even if it is set out in law that he must, Mr Johnson said: “I will not. I don’t want a delay.”

The comments come a day after “he said he would rather be 'dead in a ditch” than delay the UK's departure from the bloc for a third time.

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson walks out 10 Downing Street to greet the US Vice President Mike Pence, in London, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2019.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson walks out 10 Downing Street to greet the US Vice President Mike Pence, in London, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2019.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

The Prime Minister lost two key votes in the Commons after MPs voted to block no deal, before then rejecting an early general election.

The legislation to delay Brexit rather than leave without a deal - a bill the Prime Minister said would "scupper negotiations" - passed all stages in the Commons on Wednesday.

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But controversially, the Prime Minister culled 21 Conservative MPs who voted against the whip.

Meanwhile, MPs will return to Parliament for the Queen's speech on October 14.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II welcomes newly elected leader of the Conservative party, Boris Johnson during an audience in Buckingham Palace, London ON jULY 24, 2019, where she invited him to become Prime Minister and form a new government. - Theresa May is set to formally resign on July 24 after taking her final PMQs in the House of Commons with Boris Johnson taking charge at 10 Downing Street on a mission to deliver Brexit by October 31 with or without a deal. (Photo by Victoria Jones / POOL / AFP) (Photo credit should read VICTORIA JONES/AFP/Getty Images)
The Queen agreed for Mr Johnson to suspend Parliament from September 9 to October 14, when she will open a new session (GETTY)

Remain supporting ministers could oust Johnson in a vote of no confidence if he indicates he will refuse to delay Brexit.

But speaking traveling to Scotland to meet the Queen at Balmoral on Friday, a defiant Prime Minister declined to rule out resigning if he failed to deliver Brexit by October 31.

He said: “That is not a hypothesis I'm willing to contemplate. I want us to get this thing done.”