Boris Johnson news: PM faces onslaught in parliament over Queen’s Speech, amid anger over ‘blatant attempt to rig election’

EU leaders warn Brexit deal unlikely this week

The Queen says government will 'ensure it continues to play leading role in global affairs' after Brexit

Boris Johnson has said he will not resign even if MPs vote against his legislative agenda, which was set out in the Queen’s Speech on Monday.

Downing Street also said that Mr Johnson could plough on to introduce the bills announced.

The prime minister used his first Queen’s Speech to insist that the government’s priority is to deliver Brexit by 31 October.

But elsewhere, European leaders warned that a full Brexit agreement is unlikely this week.

“I think there is no time in a practical or legal way to find an agreement before the EU Council meeting,” said Antti Rinne, the prime minister of Finland.

“We need more time and we need to have negotiations after the Council meeting.”

EU leaders will gather on Thursday and Friday for the next European Council meeting.

If Boris Johnson cannot reach a deal, attention will turn to next steps, including a possible extension.

“We are not very optimistic,” a senior EU diplomat said.

“Let’s not wait – we can’t wait: let’s get Brexit done,” Mr Johnson told parliament on Monday.

“If there could be one thing more divisive, more toxic than the first referendum, it be would be a second referendum.”

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

[14 October 2019 19:45 · Zamira Rahim]

For something a little more lighthearted, here's sketch writer Tom Peck's view of the pageantry of the Queen's speech.

"It is a fact never worth forgetting in this, the age of Hot Takes, that the sole reason the Queen is universally admired is that she has never given an opinion on anything," he writes.

"Brexit, the death penalty, Marmite, Jameela Jamil: if you want to know what Her Majesty thinks about any of this stuff you just have to make it up yourself.

"A terrible tragedy, really, there aren’t more of her. Enough, say, to fill an entire BBC Question Time panel and audience every week for the next 20 years."

Read his column here: 

[14 October 2019 20:00 · Zamira Rahim]

"Boris Johnson has been accused of leading a “zombie government” after Downing Street confirmed he will continue trying to push through his Queen’s Speech legislative programme even if it is rejected wholesale by the House of Commons," reports Andrew Woodcock, The Independent's political editor.

"The prime minister’s official spokesman flatly rejected suggestions that Mr Johnson would resign if the package is voted down by MPs next week, in what experts said was an “unprecedented” constitutional development likely to lead to a string of government defeats.

"Mr Johnson’s spokesman said the PM – who is 45 MPs short of a working majority in the Commons – would press ahead with tabling the 26 bills contained in the Queen’s Speech and attempting to get them onto the statute book."

Read more here: 

[14 October 2019 20:15 · Zamira Rahim]

Jeremy Corbyn has addressed supporters at a rally in Emmanuel Square, in Westminster.

"Today we had what can only be described as a farce of a Queen's Speech," he said on Monday evening.

"Just think about it, the prime minister himself admitted that this government probably doesn't have long to run.

"And so he goes to all this bother to close down a lot of central London to have the parade to give the Queen's Speech, absolutely bereft of any hope, any content, any belief. Just a ramble of nonsense."

John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor and Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary, also addressed the rally.

[14 October 2019 20:17 · Zamira Rahim]

Jeremy Corbyn spoke at the rally following the state opening of parliament.

[14 October 2019 20:30 · Zamira Rahim]

"The Queen’s Speech is normally an occasion for the government to go on the offensive and dominate the news agenda. Sure enough, today’s list of 26 bills looks meaty enough at first glance, and there was no shortage of confidence in the prime minister’s message," argues columnist Andrew Grice.

"Only Boris Johnson could talk about releasing “the talent, creativity, innovation and chutzpah that exists in every corner of our UK”. 

But the backcloth made this speech nothing short of surreal. This is politics through the looking glass.

"The government is more than 40 short of a majority. There is little prospect of any even mildly controversial legislation being approved by the Commons. If MPs are in the mood to make Johnson’s life difficult, they could defeat the entire speech in next week’s vote on it."

Read more here: 

[14 October 2019 20:45 · Zamira Rahim]

If you missed it earlier, Jacob Rees-Mogg suggested this morning that the government could use EU law to force through a no-deal Brexit by 31 October.

"The Commons leader said he believed there was a “pathway to a deal” but hinted that Boris Johnson could use European legislation to get around a law compelling him to delay Brexit if there is no deal in place by next week," reports political correspondent Lizzy Buchan.

"Ahead of a make-or-break week for Brexit, Mr Rees-Mogg warned pro-EU MPs that “it takes two to tango” and any extension must be signed off by Brussels."

Read more here: 

[14 October 2019 21:00 · Zamira Rahim]

In a sign that perhaps all is not well in Westminster, MPs in the chamber have jokingly revealed that they asked the Pope to pray for Brexit.

Sir David Arness, a Conservative MP, told the Commons that a cross-party group of legislators visited Rome over the weekend to witness the canonisation of Cardinal Newman.

He joked: "This really is a broken Parliament, but I have some good news.

"I and one SNP member who happens to be in the chamber now and some Labour colleagues and some Conservative colleagues were all in Rome yesterday for the beatification of Cardinal Newman - canonisation of Cardinal Newman, the first for 50 years of an Englishman, and the House should know that we asked the Holy Father if he would pray for a miracle so that we can deliver Brexit.

"And when we asked him if the next canonisation would be a British MP, his eyes lifted up to heaven.

"But there are a number of us who are feeling slightly spiritual at a rather sombre occasion which today has been thus far."

[14 October 2019 21:15 · Zamira Rahim]

More details are emerging about Jeremy Corbyn's speech at a rally in Westminster this evening.

The Labour leader compared Boris Johnson to the Liverpool football team saying: "The only thing Boris Johnson has got in common with my good friends from all over Merseyside is they've both got a 100% record.

"Liverpool have won every game, Johnson has lost every vote."

John McDonnell said the Queen's Speech was  "absolutely contentless" and said the Conservatives had "dragged this poor woman [the Queen] out in the rain" to attend the ceremony."

[14 October 2019 21:30 · Zamira Rahim]

"By this time next week, we should know whether the UK will leave the European Union on 31 October or whether an extension to the Article 50 process has been granted so we do not crash out without a deal in the short term," argues Lib Dem MP Chuka Umunna in a column for The Independent.

"This will all depend on whether the prime minister can win agreement for his proposals, first from the EU at the European Council meeting on Thursday and Friday, and then from the UK parliament on Saturday.

"To all intents and purposes his proposals are similar to Theresa May’s but he seeks to replace the so-called Irish backstop with a set of alternative measures. In Brexit parlance, what Boris Johnson has proposed is still amongst the hardest of “hard Brexits”, which is why they should be fought tooth and nail."

Read more here: 

[14 October 2019 21:45 · Zamira Rahim]

The BBC reports that DUP MPs were spotted at Downing Street tonight.