Boris Johnson says won’t quit if exit day is delayed

Bloomberg

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson suggested he won’t quit if he fails in his defining mission to deliver Brexit by the end of October. In an interview with the BBC, he refused to back down over his use of military terms to describe the opposition to his Brexit strategy, while facing questions over his alleged links to a businesswoman who received state funding.
Touring a hospital in Manchester, Johnson was asked about the likelihood of a Brexit deal. “We are cautiously optimistic — it’s difficult,” he told reporters, highlighting the obstacles of the Irish backstop. He said “there is way” to deliver a deal through parliament, but that it was “not made easier by attempts in Parliament to fetter the ability of the government to negotiate.”
Asked again about his relationship with Jennifer Arcuri, he said he acted “in complete conformity with the rules” while serving as Mayor of London.
The prime minister refused to engage with questions about his links to an American former model and entrepreneur while he was London Mayor. He is alleged to have authorised taxpayer-funded sponsorship for Jennifer Arcuri’s fledgling technology business and allowed her to accompany delegations on foreign visits despite her business being ineligible.
Johnson told the BBC simply that there had been no impropriety. “I am very, very proud of everything we did and everything I did as mayor of London,” he said.
Asked if he had declared his links with Arcuri in the register of interests, he replied: “There was no interest to declare.”
In an interview with the BBC’s Andrew Marr, Boris Johnson suggested he wouldn’t resign if Brexit negotiations are extended beyond the October 31 deadline, despite making it
a key commitment to deliver the UK’s divorce from the EU by that date, without a deal if needed.
“I’ve undertaken to lead my country and party at a difficult time and I am going to do that,” Johnson said. He declined to comment on questions about whether he’d been in discussions with other EU leaders to ask one of them to veto any extension to the deadline. Instead he added, “I do think there is a good chance” of the UK reaching an agreement with the bloc.
The premier again defended his use of what critics say is inflammatory language in the Brexit debate. “Martial metaphors, military metaphors are very old standard parliamentary practice,” he said.
Johnson said he thought “everybody” should calm down, adding that he was being a “model of restraint.”
“The best thing for the country and the best thing for people’s overall psychological health would be to get Brexit done.” Former Justice Secretary David Gauke, expelled from the Tories for voting in favor of the Benn Act rejected the idea he’d worked with EU officials to draft the bill, and said the allegation was another example of Johnson’s office using inflammatory language.
“You have a very good example of a Number 10 briefing using the word collusion — that’s a very loaded word itself — and providing no evidence that there was anything supporting this statement,” Gauke told Sky News.