Boris Johnson news: PM abandons claim no-deal Brexit is ‘one-in-a-million’ risk, amid barrage of abuse on Facebook Q&A

Boris Johnson opens first 'People's PMQ's' saying EU believe Brexit can be blocked by parliment

Speaker John Bercow has vowed to block Boris Johnson from suspending parliament to force through a no-deal Brexit “with every breath in my body”.

Mr Johnson also faced other attacks from more liberal Conservatives on Wednesday.

In a thinly-veiled attack on the Johnson’s adviser Dominic Cummings, former chancellor Philip Hammond accused the PM of listening to “unelected” saboteurs “who pull the strings” of his government.

Despite the internal party schism, Mr Johnson held his very first “People’s PMQs” event on Facebook, answering questions from the comments section – where he faced a barrage of abuse

The PM admitted a no-deal exit had become “more likely”.

He also failed to rule out a general election in order to thwart attempts to block a crash-out from the EU.

And he accused MPs fighting a no-deal – led by Philip Hammond, the former chancellor – of “a terrible collaboration” with Brussels in order to stop Brexit altogether.

“The awful thing is that the longer that goes on, the more likely it is of course that we will be forced to leave with a no-deal Brexit,” Mr Johnson said.

“That’s not what I want, that’s not what we’re aiming for, but we need our European friends to compromise.

If you would like to see how the day’s events unfolded, please see what was our live coverage below:

Key Points

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[14 August 2019 08:10 · Adam Forrest]

Good morning and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of events at Westminster and beyond.

[14 August 2019 08:12 · Adam Forrest]

John Bercow has vowed to block Boris Johnson from suspending parliament to force through a no-deal Brexit “with every breath in my body”.

The speaker of the House of Commons told an audience at the Edinburgh Fringe festival on Tuesday that he “strongly” believes the chamber ”must have its way”.

Here are all the details.

[14 August 2019 08:22 · Adam Forrest]

Former chancellor Philip Hammond has argued Boris Johnson would commit a betrayal of the referendum if he enacted a no-deal Brexit by listening to the “unelected” saboteurs “who pull the strings” at No 10.

He said early signs for the Johnson administration “are not encouraging”, warning that demands to abolish the backstop had become a “wrecking” stance over a deal.

“The unelected people who pull the strings of this government know that this is a demand the EU cannot and will not accede to” the Tory backbencher wrote in The Times on Wednesday, in a thinly-veiled attack on the PM's right-hand man Dominic Cummings.

Hammond said he was busting two “great myths” over a no-deal Brexit, arguing it will be damaging to the nation - both economically and to the union - and that voters do not back the move.

“Most people in this country want to see us leave in a smooth and orderly fashion that will not disrupt lives, cost jobs or diminish living standards, whether they voted Leave or Remain in 2016,” he wrote.

“Parliament faithfully reflects the view of that majority and it will make its voice heard. No-deal would be a betrayal of the 2016 referendum result. It must not happen.”

Hammond also accused “some key figures in the government” of “absurdly” suggesting no-deal would boost the UK’s economy.

[14 August 2019 08:23 · Adam Forrest]

Jeremy Corbyn is under pressure to back cancelling Brexit altogether if it is the only way to stop the UK crashing out of the EU, as another battle with Labour activists looms.

Here’s our deputy political editor Rob Merrick with the details.

[14 August 2019 08:31 · Adam Forrest]

A government source accused Philip Hammond of having done “everything he could to block preparations for leaving and undermined negotiations” when chancellor.

“We are leaving on October 31 and we will be ready to do so despite the former chancellor's best efforts to the contrary,” the source added.

Hammond has fired back on Twitter.

[14 August 2019 08:39 · Adam Forrest]

More on Philip Hammond’s escalating feud with No 10. The former chancellor has said trying to “bypass parliament” to force through a no-deal Brexit would “provoke a constitutional crisis”.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Hammond said the PM’s attempts to get the EU to back down on the backstop are a “wrecking tactic”.

He said: “Any idea of trying to bypass Parliament by dissolving it, for example, and holding an election over the exit date would provoke a constitutional crisis.

“We have an unwritten constitution but the principles behind it are very clear and one of them is that an outgoing government should not act in a way to prevent an incoming government from making key decisions.”

Hammond added: “More than 17 million people did not vote to leave the EU with no deal. That is the key point here. There is no mandate for leaving with no deal.

“It is absurd to suggest that the 52 per cent of people that voted to leave the European Union all voted to leave with no deal when, in fact, as the BBC itself has pointed out, during the referendum campaign there was virtually no mention made by the leaders of that campaign at all of the possibility of leaving with no deal.”

[14 August 2019 08:57 · Adam Forrest]

More on the Philip Hammond versus No 10 row. Tory MP Iain Duncan Smith has gone on the attack, saying he was “astounded” by Hammond’s “hubris”.

“This man did nothing for us to prepare for leaving with no deal,” the former party leader today the Today programme.

“By not preparing to leave with no deal they may it certain that we have to swallow everything that the European Union gave us.

“So the crime that’s been committed in political terms was committed by him. By not preparing us to leave it meant we had no negotiating position whatsoever and we were taken to the cleaners by the EU.”

[14 August 2019 09:08 · Adam Forrest]

Here’s our political correspondent Benjamin Kentish with more on Philip Hammond’s stinging attack on the people “pulling the strings” on no-deal Brexit plans at No 10.

[14 August 2019 09:17 · Adam Forrest]

Speaking about the transport implications of bringing supplies to the UK following Brexit, the transport secretary Grant Shapps said the government has issued an “invitation to tender” for £300m worth of freight.

Shapps said he will be attending the exit operations committee, held in the Cabinet Office, to “plan the detail to make sure that when we do leave – which we will do on 31 October – it is as smooth as it possibly can be”.

The transport secretary said: “It is true that we have issued an invitation to tender for £300m worth of freight, so that actually might be rail, it might be ships.”

Shapps said it “won’t be £300m of airlifting”, saying it will be mainly shipping and rail freight. He added: “If we do leave without a deal, we’ll be ready for it. And your description of £300m of airlifting is completely incorrect, I just want to quash that.

“It is actually a contract, actually an invitation to tender, but not spending a penny at this stage at all.”

[14 August 2019 09:23 · Adam Forrest]

Ahead of A-level results day on Thursday, Labour has said that giving students university places based on predicted grades is “deeply unfair”.

The party has vowed to scrap the system of university offers based on predicted A-level grades.

Here’s our education correspondent Eleanor Busby with more.