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 22:00 · Zamira Rahim]

A former cabinet minister has pleaded with the government to impose an arms embargo on Turkey until the country withdraws from northern Syria.

"The US is our closest and most critical ally, but we must be strong enough to call it out when errors are made, and President Trump's decision to withdraw troops has triggered a humanitarian crisis and undone much of the good work to bring stability to the region," said Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood.

The politician is a former defence minister.

"I'd simply make it very, very clear that the SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces) were our allies, they were our boots on the ground and now we're seeing them pivot towards the Assad regime, a regime that we felt required, and absolutely right, to actually launch weapon strikes on them because they were using their own chemical weapons and barrel bombs on their own people.

"This has been a disastrous week for international foreign policy. We are losing any leverage in pursuing a peaceful outcome in Syria," he added.

"So I simply cannot stress enough the implications of Turkey's incursion.

"I simply ask this Government to lead calls for Turkey to withdraw and to impose an arms embargo until this happens."

Mr Ellwood was speaking in the Queen's Speech debate in the Commons.