Parliament ready to support no-deal Brexit, says Johnson

Bloomberg

Boris Johnson said he believed the British Parliament would now support a no-deal Brexit, even as senior figures in his Conservative Party warned they had the numbers to stop him if he tried to push one through.
Johnson, a former foreign secretary, and the favourite to succeed Theresa May as prime minister, used a BBC interview to argue that the drubbings that both his Conservative Party and opposition Labour Party received in the European elections had left members of Parliament determined to get Brexit done.
“I think parliament now understands that the British
people want us to come out,” Johnson said. “And I think that MPs on both sides of the House also understand that they will face mortal retribution from the electorate unless we get on and do it.”
Johnson, who has been criticised for shunning media interviews and debates, was expected to give another interview on Tuesday on LBC radio. His rival Jeremy Hunt called him a coward for avoiding scrutiny.
Johnson said his Brexit strategy is to use the threat of no-deal to persuade the European Union to remove the controversial Irish border backstop from the Withdrawal Agreement that May negotiated. Crucial to that is convincing the EU, which has said it won’t move on either of these points, that Britain is serious about a no-deal.

Strategy Divide
Johnson’s problem is that many MPs believe a no-deal Brexit can be stopped. Defence Minister Tobias Ellwood told the BBC that he was certain those who oppose a no-deal Brexit had the numbers. “I think a dozen or so members of parliament would be on our side, would be voting against supporting a no deal, and that would include ministers as well as backbenchers,” he said.
Speaking on BBC Radio, Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd said Ellwood’s estimate was “about right — I think it’s slightly less than that.”
Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Ken Clarke went further, saying he’d be willing to vote against the government in a confidence vote if that was necessary to stop a no-deal Brexit.
And while Johnson is right that the EU elections are leading Labour to shift its position, it might not be in the direction that he’s counting on.
The party’s leader, Jeremy Corbyn, signalled another move toward a full commitment to a second referendum, twice telling May it was the best course.
Although a handful of Labour MPs have been willing to rebel against their party line to back May’s Brexit deal, they say persuading them to back a no-deal departure would be harder, especially if the salesman were Johnson.
The focus of Johnson’s campaign is Brexit, but he’s also made promises to cut taxes.
A report on Tuesday by the Institute for Fiscal Studies said his proposals to raise tax thresholds would cost $25 billion a year, and benefit higher earners most. After a weekend of difficult headlines about his private life after police were called to his partner’s London apartment, he said he would never discuss his private life.
Johnson said his plan for his first day in office if he became prime minister would be to “make sure that we have a plan that will convince our European friends and partners that we are absolutely serious about coming out.”
He has built his campaign around a commitment to get Britain out of the EU by October 31, but in his limited public appearances, he has wobbled on the firmness of that pledge. Some of his supporters have left his office convinced he won’t go for a no-deal Brexit.