Boris Johnson rages at ‘illiberal democrats’ trying to block Brexit deal in angry outburst
BORIS JOHNSON took to the dispatch box to outline his Brexit masterplan this morning and has hit out at Remainers for asking Jean-Claude Juncker to reject the proposals.
Brexit: Johnson accuses Lib Dems of asking EU to reject deal
The Commons debate kicked off just after 11.30am and saw Boris Johnson attempt to sell his Brexit proposals to MPs. He reiterated his determination to honour the 2016 referendum result and to leave the bloc with or without a deal on October 31. In response to a question from Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson, the Prime Minister hit out at the Remainer plot to prevent a deal from being reached with the EU.
Ms Swinson asked the Prime Minister: "Will you go to the Northern Ireland border and listen to the people and communities there, or does he just not care?"
Mr Johnson replied: "Perhaps she could ask her Liberal Democrat colleagues to retract their letter to Jean-Claude Juncker urging him not to reach a new deal with the British Government."
Prior to this, the Tory leader outlined his Brexit proposals to the Commons, explaining his alternative to the Irish backstop.
He said his Government had gone "the extra mile" to reach a compromise and hopes that the EU will approve the deal.
But he said if they were to reject it, "we shall have to leave on October 31 without a deal".
The Prime Minister said: "If our European neighbours choose not to show a corresponding willingness to reach a deal then we shall have to leave on October 31 without an agreement and we are ready to do so."
He said such an outcome would be a "failure of statecraft" and said all parties would be to blame.
Mr Johnson said: "Surely we can summon the collective will to reach a new agreement" and called on the House to vote for his deal.
He asked MPs to "come together in the national interest" and get behind the deal.
The Prime Minister explained that has made a legitimate attempt to reconcile the Brexit impasse and reach a fresh deal with the EU.
He said: "This Government's objective has always been to leave with a deal and these constructive and reasonable proposals show our seriousness of purpose.
"They do not deliver everything that we would've wished, they do represent a compromise, but to remain a prisoner of existing positions is to become a cause of deadlock rather than breakthrough.
"So we have made a genuine attempt to bridge the chasm, to reconcile the apparently irreconcilable and to go the extra mile as time runs short."
Jeremy Corbyn hit out at the Prime Minister for rehashing a version of previous proposals and called on the Government to publish the full legal text of the deal submitted to the EU.
The Labour leader said: "Given the seriousness of this issue and the vagueness of the proposals so far, can the Prime Minister tell this House if and when he plans to publish the full legal text that he must submit to the EU?
"These proposals would lead to an even worse deal than that agreed by the former prime minister."
He added: "No Labour MP could support such a reckless deal that will be used as a springboard to attack rights and standards in this country."
Mr Corbyn predicted that the latest Brexit deal would be rejected by Parliament.
Ardent Brexiteer Sir Bill Cash has welcomed the Prime Minister's proposals.
Replying to Mr Johnson's statement, Sir Bill said: "Welcoming indications of progress in these negotiations."
Mr Johnson replied: "Under this deal this country will certainly be taking back control."
But SNP's Ian Blackford said the Government's proposals were "unacceptable, unworkable and undeliverable".
The SNP Westminster leader said: "Mr Speaker, it is a plan designed to fail, but of course, the Prime Minister knows that. By his own desire this take-it-or-leave-it threat is yet another push towards a catastrophic no-deal Brexit."
In response, Mr Johnson said: "The best way, if he wishes to avoid a no-deal outcome, and I respectively suggest to him that the best way to do that would be to support a deal."
Brexit: Boris Johnson urges House to get behind new deal
Tory backbencher Mark Francois, deputy chairman of the pro-Brexit European Research Group, said Mr Johnson's proposals were "what many of us wanted all along".
He said: "May I commend the Prime Minister's emphasis on a future free trade as his desired end state which is what many of us have wanted all along."
The Prime Minister has hinted that MPs could vote on the new Brexit deal before the EU summit on October 17/18.
Mr Johnson told Frank Field MP: "I will reflect on what he said about having a vote on it - it would be better to get a deal first."
Huffpost UK's Paul Waugh suggests such a move would "significantly strengthen" the Prime Minister's hand as it would show the Commons would back his plan "in principle".