Boris Johnson hits out at ‘people who want to frustrate Brexit’
The Prime Minister has hit back against the Supreme Court’s ruling that his prorogation of parliament was unlawful, saying the decision has not made getting a Brexit deal “any easier”.
Speaking from New York, Boris Johnson said he “strongly disagreed” with the judgement that prorogation was unlawful – but stressed “this is a verdict that we will respect”.
Read more: Supreme Court ruling: What does it mean and what happens now?
The Prime Minister said: “Let’s be in no doubt that there are a lot of people who want to frustrate Brexit. There are a lot of people who basically want to stop this country from coming out of the EU.
“We have a parliament that is unable to be prorogued, it doesn’t want to have an election, and I think it’s time we took this forward.”
Despite disagreeing with the decision, Johnson said he had “the upmost respect for our judiciary”.
He added: “I don’t think this was the right decision. I think that the prorogation has been used for centuries without this kind of challenge.”
Johnson added that it was “perfectly usual to have a Queen’s Speech,” and did not rule out further prorogation.
He said: “As the law currently stands the UK leaves the EU on 31 October, come what may.
“But the interesting thing, the exciting thing for us now, is to get a good deal. And that’s what we’re working on.
“I’ll be honest with you, it’s not made much easier by this kind of stuff in parliament, or in the courts. Obviously getting a deal is not make much easier against this background. But we’re going to get on and do it.”
The Supreme Court earlier ruled that Johnson’s prorogation of parliament for five weeks to 14 October was unlawful.
The suspension meant MPs had fewer days in which to scrutinise the Prime Minister’s Brexit plans.
Read more: Bercow confirms MPs will sit tomorrow from 11.30am
Johnson had pledged a “do or die” Brexit on 31 October whether or not the UK had a deal.
But the pound rose as traders welcomed the growing likelihood that a no-deal Brexit can be avoided.
Dean Turner, an economist at UBS Wealth Management, said: “The UK’s Brexit process continued to deliver twists and turns. But the bigger picture for Brexit remains unchanged, and we still believe that a no-deal Brexit on 31 October – the current deadline – is unlikely.
“The longer term risk-return outlook for UK equities looks uncertain. We still advise being nimble on sterling. But given our belief that a disorderly exit on 31 October is unlikely, we still see upside for the pound and are overweight it versus the US dollar in our FX strategy.”
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