Boris Johnson news: PM ‘behaving like a spoilt brat’ after deal derailed as Micheal Gove insists UK will leave EU on 31 October

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Boris Johnson’s letters to Brussels 'may be in contempt of parliament', claims John McDonnell

Boris Johnson was accused of “behaving like a spoilt brat” after he sent an unsigned letter to the EU asking for an extension to Brexit.

The prime minister, having promised that he would never make such a request, was forced to do so after MPs voted to withhold approval for his withdrawal agreement.

Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell said Mr Johnson “has to abide by the law” and may be in contempt of parliament, adding: ”He’s behaving a bit like a spoilt brat.”

However Michael Gove, the government minister in charge of Brexit preparations, insisted that the UK would still leave the EU on 31 October.

“We are going to leave by October 31,” he told Sky News. ”We have the means and the ability to do so and yesterday... we had some people who voted for delay, voted explicitly to try to frustrate this process and to drag it out.”

The government is planning to hold a “meaningful vote” on Mr Johnson’s deal on Monday but opposition MPs are seeking amendments to protect against a no-deal Brexit and hold a second referendum.

Supporters of a Final Say referendum are being urged to sign a letter which calls on officials in the UK and the EU to do everything they can to give the people a vote on the final Brexit deal.

Follow events as they happened in our liveblog below:

Key Points

• Boris Johnson 'may be in contempt of parliament'
• Brexit Party leader backs short delay to Brexit
• Letter calling for Final Say vote backed by over 180,000
• Labour backs amendment calling for referendum on deal
• Michael Gove says 'we will leave on 31 October'
• What happens next?

[20 October 2019 16:02 · Peter Stubley]

Former Tory MP Dominic Grieve says he prefers having a second referendum to holding a general election.

Mr Grieve, who was sacked by Boris Johnson for rebelling against a no-deal Brexit: "The referendum would finally resolve Brexit, and it would resolve it in a way which also gave a powerful indication that people wanted something."

He said there was "a serious risk" that parliament would remain deadlocked after a general election, because polling indicated that no party would be able to win a majority in the House of Commons.

[20 October 2019 16:43 · Peter Stubley]

One of those who attended the Final Say protest march on Sunday was 91-year-old Uwe Kitzinger, who campaigned in the 1960s for the UK to join the EEC. 

When Britain eventually joined in 1973 Mr Kitzinger worked as an adviser to Sir Christopher Soames, vice-president of the European Commission (and Winston Churchill's son-in-law).

Mr Kitzinger, said: "I do not see how the question of sovereignty over the issue of Europe can be settled without the people of this country having a say, now that they are much better informed, and now that there is actually a proposal."

He said Brexit was "the negation of all I stood for and all I worked for in my career," adding: "I see Brexit as a blow against the cohesion of the world.

"All the institutions that were set up at the end of the Second World War - the World Bank, the United Nations itself - all these are under attack from Mr (Vladimir) Putin, and from him through Mr (Donald) Trump, and our present so-called prime minister."

Mr Kitzinger was born in Germany and emigrated to the UK in 1939.

Uwe Kitzinger attends his first protest march at the age of 91 to call for a Final Say referendum on Brexit 

[20 October 2019 16:59 · Peter Stubley]

More than 185,000 people have now signed the letter asking for the public to be given a Final Say on Brexit.

You can add your name here.

It will be delivered to the Prime Minister, every MP and the European Council by 31 October.

[20 October 2019 17:07 · Peter Stubley]

That's it for today's live coverage of Brexit and British politics.

Tomorrow afternoon the government will seek to hold a "meaningful vote" on Boris Johnson's withdrawal agreement.

As ever, the outcome remains uncertain.