Boris Johnson faces raucous Parliament
LONDON • An unrepentant Prime Minister Boris Johnson brushed off cries of “Resign!” and dared his foes to try to topple him at a raucous session of Parliament on Wednesday, a day after Britain’s highest court ruled he acted illegally in suspending the body ahead of the Brexit deadline.
Amid shouts, angry gestures and repeated cries of “Order!” in the House of Commons, Johnson emphatically defended his effort to withdraw Britain from the European Union on Oct. 31, with or without a separation agreement with the EU.
“I say it is time to get Brexit done,” he declared, accusing his opponents of trying to frustrate the will of the people, who in 2016 voted 52% to 48% to leave the 28-nation bloc.
Johnson was greeted with applause from his own Conservative lawmakers and jeers from the opposition side as he faced the Commons, hours after cutting short a trip to the United Nations in New York.
He flew home early after Britain’s Supreme Court unanimously ruled Tuesday that his attempt to suspend Parliament for five weeks had the effect of stymieing its scrutiny of the government over Brexit. The court declared the suspension void.
The leader of the main opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, said the prime minister is not fit to govern and “should have done the honorable thing and resigned” after the ruling. He said Johnson “thinks he is above the law” and has shown “no shred of remorse or humility.”
“Have you no shame, prime minister?” said Ian Blackford, the Scottish National Party’s leader in Parliament. Labour lawmaker Jess Phillips urged Johnson “to act with some humility and contrition.”
Members of Parliament accused him of showing disrespect for the rule of law and misleading Queen Elizabeth II when he asked for her permission to prorogue, or suspend, Parliament.
Over and over, they called on him to say he was sorry.
But Johnson ignored calls to step down or apologize, showing no sign of contrition. He said he disagreed with the Supreme Court’s 11-0 ruling.
Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks Wednesday in Parliament in London. British lawmakers returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday, venting their pent-up anger over Johnson’s failed attempt to suspend Parliament and warning that democracy is under threat from the government.
