Boris Johnson: 'The Incredible Sulk chickens out' of Brexit press conference amid noisy protests as EU decries lack of 'concrete proposals'
MPs warned of 'flaw' in legislation to block no-deal
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Your support makes all the difference.Boris Johnson was branded "The Incredible Sulk" after he cancelled a planned press conference because of noisy protests in Luxembourg following his meeting with Jean-Claude Juncker, as the European Commission president said the UK has still “not yet made” proposals to replace the Irish backstop.
It comes as Jolyon Maugham QC and rebel MPs warned that there is a “flaw” in the legislation demanding the prime minister asks Brussels for a three-month Brexit delay.
The Lib Dems’ foreign spokesperson Chuka Umunna said the party could win 200 seats at the next election, while leader Jo Swinson ruled out any electoral pact with Labour or forming a coalition with Jeremy Corbyn.
Here's how we covered developments as they happened:
Asked why the UK has not put forward any new written proposals, Xavier Bettel says he cannot speak for Boris Johnson but that the prime minister understood his message that the UK cannot simply put forward "ideas" and that it instead "has to be clarification".
This is scathing stuff from Xavier Bettel who, asked about Boris Johnson's decision to suspend Parliament, says simply: "This wouldn't happen in Luxembourg."
He then attacks Mr Johnson for comparing the UK "breaking free" of the EU to the Hulk. He says it is "too serious a matter to speak about actors and a script".
No Boris Johnson at what was supposed to be a joint press conference, leaving Xavier Bettel alone.
Luxembourg prime minister Xavier Bettel (Reuters)
Breaking: Boris Johnson ducks out of press conference amid noisy protests, leaving empty podium next to Luxembourg's PM
Quite a picture indeed, as Xavier Bettel conducts a press conference while pointing to where Boris Johnson was supposed to be standing, before the prime minister pulled out at the last minute.
Boris Johnson has just done a television interview after his meetings in Luxembourg.
The prime minister insists there is a "good chance" of a Brexit deal and says he can "see the shape of it" but insists that there needs to be "movement" from the EU.
He re-iterates his demand for the Northern Ireland backstop to be scrapped, saying:
"That needs to happen. That's a big change that we need to get done but if we can get that done then we're at the races.
"I think we've got just the right amount of time to do a deal between now and 17-18 October."
Boris Johnson's team are claiming that he pulled out of his planned press conference because "technically it would be impossible to do a press conference with both speakers being heard" over the sound of protests nearby.
A spokesperson says: "We decided that was not something we were going to do if we could not guarantee the ability of the PM to literally be heard."
No10 said members of the prime minister's team had asked repeatedly for the conference to be moved inside but that this had been refused by the hosts in Luxembourg.
Labour MP Stephen Doughty, commenting on that extraordinary press conference, tells The Independent:
"Boris Johnson has proved he's more of an Incredible Sulk than the Incredible Hulk today. He has no plan, no majority, no clue. and now he's been rumbled by the people of Britain and those he is supposed to be negotiating with. Put simply, he's chickened out."
The fallout from Xavier Bettel's press conference is turning into a diplomatic row between the UK and Luxembourg....
The Liberal Democrats have deselected one of their parliamentary candidates after he suggested that several senior Conservatives should be "burned at the stake".
Galen Milne, the party's candidate in Banff and Buchan, was removed after attacking current and former Tory ministers Boris Johnson, Liam Fox, Michael Gove, David Davis and Jacob Rees-Mogg on social media.
He wrote: "Johnson, Fox, Gove, Davis, Rees-Mogg should be hung, drawn and quartered, with each quarter being sent to the 4 corners of the UK to be burned at the stake".
In response, a spokesperson for the Scottish Liberal Democrats said: "Such language is unacceptable and offensive. Galen Milne will not be a Liberal Democrat candidate at the general election."
Mr Milne said: "I deeply regret the offensive statements on social media. I want to apologise to anyone that I have offended."
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