The United Kingdom “won’t be able to leave on October 31st” because of “the actions of Parliament and especially Jeremy Corbyn”, Chancellor Sajid Javid said speaking for the government on Friday morning.
The remarks, made during a testy interview with BBC television, are the first official public acceptance by Boris Johnson’s government that the much-vaunted and enthusiastically promised October 31st Brexit day will not, in fact, be going ahead.
While the latest delay has been forced on the prime minister by Britain’s overwhelmingly anti-Brexit Parliament, the failure to deliver in time will likely prove deeply embarrassing and damaging to Mr Johnson, who made repeated promises to the British people despite clearly not knowing whether he would be able to deliver on them.
Mr Johnson had frequently said he would ensure an October 31st Brexit day “do or die” during his campaign to become the party leader and since as prime minister, and even said he would rather be “dead in a ditch” than renege on the promise.
Beyond blaming Parliament and Jeremy Corbyn for the delay, it is not clear how Mr Johnson will manage climbing down from his position, now that events forced by anti-Brexit campaigners have bound his hands.
Making the case for the government and defending its record of attempting to deliver Brexit on time on Friday, Sajid Javid told BBC Breakfast presenter Charlie Stayt that: “We’ve done everything possible to leave on October 31st.
“We got that deal that everyone said that we couldn’t get, we’ve planned extremely carefully for a no-deal outcome just in case. But because of the actions of Parliament and especially of Jeremy Corbyn, we’ve had more dither and more delay. And now we have to accept we won’t be able to leave on October 31st because Parliament has requested an extension.
“And although we haven’t heard back from the EU yet, it is likely, we just have to assume that they will agree to Parliament’s request. Not something we wanted, but they will agree and probably offer a three-month extension.”
Asked to confirm that he was indeed revealing that the October 31st deadline had been officially dropped by government, Mr Javid continued: “It can’t be met because Parliament has asked for an extension… everyone expects an extension [from the EU] and when that happens we won’t be able to leave on the 31st.”
Ever critical of the Conservative Party’s clinging to the hope of a good deal while failing to deliver one, Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party leapt on the revelation, pointing to the powerlessness of Boris Johnson and his government.
In a statement seen by Breitbart London, party chairman Richard Tice said in response on Friday: “The government has finally admitted what The Brexit Party has said all along: The Tories alone are powerless to deliver Brexit on October 31st.
“This morning, the Chancellor said we ‘have to accept’ Brexit has been blocked again and the EU will ‘probably offer a three-month extension,’ chaining us to Brussels into the New Year. The Tory Party is struggling to get anything past Parliament and the Remain establishment, partly because so many within their own ranks are in the Remain establishment.”
The Brexit Party has held out a hand of friendship to the Conservatives in the past, claiming that campaigning together on a full-Brexit ticket — a withdrawal without a deal and without remaining tied to the European Union — would bring a landslide and pro-Brexit control of Parliament. The Conservatives have rejected the offers with contempt so far.
Riffing on this theme, Tice continued: “The Brexit Party has offered to put country before party and work with fellow, committed Brexiteers to secure a proper Brexit.
“Only a Clean-Break Brexit will fully protect the independence of Britain’s fishing, defence, and trade, and the integrity of our precious Union, which the current Treaty sells out… We will be paying tens of billions a year to be effectively locked in the EU, with no voice, no veto, and no vote.
“Let’s sack this unrepresentative, zombie parliament squatting in the Palace of Westminster, form an unstoppable Leave alliance, and get a proper, better Brexit done.”
Mr Johnson has already attempted to call a general election twice — in normal times, a standard response to a government being unable to govern — but a new law passed by David Cameron has given opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn the power to block a fresh vote. While Mr Corbyn has made much of his desire to enter into fresh elections, he has twice turned down the opportunity — a first in British political history — because he objects to a potential pro-Brexit government being a potential outcome of the vote.
The Labour leader has said he would only agree to elections once “no-deal Brexit is taken off the table”, in a remarkable attack on democracy demanding that potential election results distasteful to him be banned before the vote even takes place.
The government is to make another attempt to break the stalemate by calling for fresh elections on Monday with the intended date of December 12th. Labour will likely again move to block, keeping Britain in Brexit limbo — and hence inside the European Union — for as long as possible.