Either topple me or let me deliver Brexit: PM Johnson tells parliament

LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson goaded the opposition Labour Party on Wednesday, telling its leader to either try to topple him or, if not, to stand aside and allow his government to deliver Brexit.

“This parliament must either stand aside and let this government get Brexit done, or bring a vote of no confidence and finally face the day of reckoning with the voters,” Johnson said in a speech that at times was all but drowned out by shouts from other lawmakers.

In one of the most humiliating rulings for a prime minister in recent British history, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday that Johnson acted illegally in advising Queen Elizabeth to suspend parliament and had undermined the fundamentals of democracy.

Johnson’s response was defiance.

He rejected calls to resign, insisted that Brexit would take place on Oct. 31 and quipped that some in parliament were seeking to turn Brexit into torment - comparing himself to the Greek mythical figure Prometheus whose liver was repeatedly eaten by an eagle.