Embattled Boris Johnson presses on with Brexit plan amid Tory turmoil
- Senior ministers say British PM is ‘sticking to his guns’ despite multiple defeats in parliament and Amber Rudd’s shock departure from cabinet
- Johnson reportedly planning to defy new law requiring him to seek extension from Brussels in case no deal is reached
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will press on with his plan to deliver Brexit by October 31, senior ministers said, despite defeats in parliament and the sudden resignation of Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd with a furious attack on his leadership.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Sunday that the Brexit plan is unchanged – even though parliament passed a law requiring Johnson to ask the European Union for an extension on October 19 if he cannot get a deal by then.
“The prime minister is sticking to his guns,” Raab told Sky News. “We’re going to keep going on with the negotiations, we know we want a deal by the end of October, but we must leave come what may.”
Rudd’s resignation plunged Johnson’s six-week-old administration deeper into turmoil after a dramatic and disastrous week in which members of parliament voted against a no-deal divorce then refused to grant him the emergency general election he wanted. And to cap it off his own brother, Jo, resigned from the government in protest at his plans.
The loss of Rudd, one of the most senior members of his team, and a key pro-European voice in the cabinet, will add to the pressure. The prime minister facing calls to abandon his aggressive stance toward his opponents and to drop his central pledge to exit the EU “do or die” at the end of next month.