Brexit: Boris Johnson says supreme court ruling makes getting deal harder – live news

Rolling coverage including supreme court ruling on Boris Johnson’s suspension of parliament and Labour conference in BrightonFull story: Johnson’s suspension of parliament unlawful, supreme court rulesSummary of judgment – Key extractsBoris Johnson says court ruling makes getting Brexit deal harder 3.03pm BST These are from Sky’s Beth Rigby.So what happens now? – short motion from govt to try & get 3-day recess 4 Tory conf- They’ll need to prorogue 4 Queens Speech. So perhaps a very short prorogation (one/two days) b4 Oct 14- VONC. rebel & govt sources think unlikely as too many MPs not prepared to have Corbyn inOh and the fourth element: Senior source tells me Johnson could also ask again for an election to try to break deadlock. After all, this is a battle between the govt & parliament rather than the govt & courts https://t.co/SCX6YxuFYi 3.01pm BST These are from my colleague Jennifer Rankin in Brussels, who is sceptical of Boris Johnson’s claim that the supreme court ruling will make it harder for him to get a Brexit deal. (See 1.41pm.) Johnson thinks that if the EU believes there is any chance of parliament delaying Brexit, they will not offer the compromises needed for a Brexit deal to happen.Boris Johnson: Getting a Brexit deal “not made much easier by this kind of stuff in parliament, or in the courts”. Is that true? Focusing purely on Brussels negotiations – I would say no.Of course may be other reasons why SC decision makes it harder for gov – loss of gov time, energy and political capital. But on substance of negotiations nothing has changed.EU thinks UK has failed to come up with adequate replacement for Irish backstop. That was EU view before judgement and (unsurprisingly) is view now.That was why Michel Barnier told Stephen Barclay on Friday that talks had gone backwards – Theresa May had agreed to “legally operative” plan i.e. backstop, but Boris Johnson has not come up with anything EU deems credible.EU reaction to Supreme Court (paraphrased): ‘it’s another mindblowing moment, but the pathway to a deal remains as before’The chances of an extension request now seem higher than ever.Questions in minds of EU officials: 1. Will technical talks with David Frost still take place on Wednesday ? as were expected 2. Much bigger – will Boris Johnson move towards NI-only backstop with some extras on consent for NI ? (extras that would fall short of an NI veto).General mood: Brussels is a city of lawyers and politicians, so people welcome clear verdict. Also seen as very much a domestic episode in the fascinating and wearying Brexit story.ends Continue reading…
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