Boris Johnson news - live: PM ‘could refuse to recall parliament’ even if Supreme Court rules it unlawful, as government admits it cannot meet Brexit ultimatum
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Boris Johnson could refuse to recall parliament even if the Supreme Court rules that his decision to suspend it was unlawful, the government has said.
Speaking shortly before the 11 judges hearing the case retired to consider their verdict on Thursday, government lawyers told the court that a ruling against the prime minister did not necessarily mean parliament would be allowed to resume sitting.
And even if the entire prorogation is declared void, Mr Johnson would be entitled to simply ask the Queen to suspend parliament again, they said.
Meanwhile, Sir John Major compared Boris Johnson to a dishonest estate agent in his written submission to the Supreme Court, claiming Mr Johnson’s stated reason for suspending parliament “can’t be true”.
It comes as Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay said the UK “cannot meet” EU demands for a backstop replacement. Mr Barclay suggested the UK should be given another year to find a new policy for the Irish border.
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Attention will be firmly focused on events at the Supreme Court, where former PM Sir John Major will be making the case against current PM Boris Johnson.
On the third and final day of the historic hearing, justices will hear submissions on behalf of Sir John, the Welsh and Scottish governments and Northern Irish campaigner Raymond McCord, all arguing against the Boris Johnson’s suspension of parliament.
If you’re still catching up with day two, Johnson was called “father of lies” by a QC representing a group of parliamentarians.
EU chiefs have told Boris Johnson told him to submit his written Brexit plan by the end of September or “it’s over”. Emmanuel Macron and Antti Rinne, prime minister of Finland, current holder the EU presidency, agreed the new deadline after meeting in Paris.
Our Europe correspondent Jon Stone has all the details.
It’s John Humphrys last day on Radio 4’s Today programme. And he has been speaking to both Tony Blair and David Cameron.
Blair told Humphrys his decision to take Britain into war with Iraq was taken in “good faith” – like Cameron’s decision to hold the Brexit referendum.
The former Labour prime minister also said the big two parties should be worried about the Liberal Democrats.
“What will destroy the two-party system is if it becomes clear that the two main parties have moved so far away from the centre that the gap in the centre has to be filled in order to be representative of the state of opinion.”
He added: “You only have to look at the Liberal Democrats now, at their party conference. For the first time in a long time, they are looking a much more serious group of people.”
Blair said: “They have got a coherent argument. If I was the two main parties at the moment, I would worry a lot about that.”
David Cameron, meanwhile, has defended his decision to step down following the UK’s decision to leave the EU.
He told John Humphrys on the Today programme that he would not have been the person to deliver Brexit having campaigned for Remain.
Cameron said he had not wanted to resign so quickly after the 2016 referendum and “hated” giving the impression he was running away.
He said he would have “lacked the credibility” a prime minister needs and felt the need to step aside quickly.
Cameron defended calling the EU referendum, saying it had come from “honest” motives. He said there had been “growing problems” with the EU and said there was a growing appetite for a referendum in the UK.
The former PM acknowledged he had “failed” with improving the situation but denied being “complacent”, saying he takes a “big share of responsibility” for what has happened since.
David Cameron sought support from the Queen during the Scottish independence referendum campaign after a poll predicting a Yes victory “panicked” him, he has revealed.
Cameron made contact with Buckingham Palace officials in 2014, suggesting the monarch could “raise an eyebrow” in the close-fought campaign.
He told the BBC: “I remember conversations I had with my private secretary and he had with the Queen’s private secretary and I had with the Queen’s private secretary, not asking for anything that would be in any way improper or unconstitutional, but just a raising of the eyebrow, even, you know, a quarter of an inch, we thought would make a difference.”
A few days before the referendum, the Queen told a well-wisher in Aberdeenshire that she hoped “people would think very carefully about the future”.
In his latest round of interviews, he also dismissed those dead pig allegations as “false and ludicrous”.
Sir John Major has compared Boris Johnson to a dishonest estate agent in his written submission to the Supreme Court.
He has cited a legal case where the buyer of a home claimed they wanted to live in it, when they really had an “ulterior motive” of wanting to sell it on for profit.
On the final day of the hearing, justices will hear submissions on behalf of Sir John, the Welsh and Scottish governments and Northern Irish campaigner Raymond McCord – all arguing against Johnson’s suspension of parliament.
A new YouGov poll for The Times shows the Liberal Democrats pushing Labour into third place.
The poll puts Lib Dem support at 23 per cent, up four points from last week, and Labour at 21 per cent, two points down. The Conservative Party is at 32 per cent, unchanged from a week ago.
It is the first time the Labour Party has been in third place since July.
Half of those who backed Labour in the 2017 election are sticking with the party, with a quarter going to the Liberal Democrats and 9 per cent backing Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party, according to the survey.
The DUP has confirmed that party leader Arlene Foster and Irish premier Leo Varadkar met in Government Buildings in Dublin after she addressed the Dublin Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday.
A party spokesman said: “They discussed Brexit and the need for the restoration of devolution.”
According to The Irish Times, Foster has indicated she could accept some “special arrangements” for Northern Ireland, so long as the existing backstop is dropped.
In further fall-out from yesterday’s big confrontation at a Leytonstone hospital, Omar Salem – the man who told Boris Johnson the NHS was being “destroyed” – has defended the BBC’s political editor.
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