Boris Johnson news – live: PM refuses to resign and says he’d rather be ‘dead in a ditch’ than seek Brexit delay
All the latest developments as they happened
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Your support makes all the difference.Boris Johnson refused to resign in the wake of his own brother’s decision to quit the government over an “unresolvable tension” between the national interest and family ties. Jo Johnson also announced his intention to stand down at the next election.
After a meandering speech in West Yorkshire, the prime minister was asked if he would follow his younger sibling out of the doors of parliament but said: “My job is to get us out on 31 October and that is what we’re going to do.”
And things went from bad to worse for the prime minister, as one man politely asked him to “please leave my town”, while another heckled him in front of TV cameras in Morley.
It all comes after the PM suffered a crushing double defeat in the Commons as MPs pushed through a bill to block a no-deal Brexit and voted down his plan to hold a snap general election.
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People want to see MPs focussing on "their priorities" not Brexit, Mr Johnson says. They want police officers on the streets being allowed to "get on with" their jobs, he says.
Mr Johnson thanks all the police officers present at the Wakefield training college. He's now about to take questions...
First question is, if your brother can't back you, why should others?
Mr Johnson praises his brother Jo for "fantastic" work as a minister.
"Jo doesn't agree with me about the European Union," he says. "I think what Jo would agree is that we need to get on and sort it out," he adds, of Brexit.
He suggests his brother would agree with the government's domestic agenda.
The second question is on the same lines as the first... With the sweetener - will you resign?
Mr Johnson says he is "absolutely determined to do this and deliver on the mandate of the people".
A no, then, for now.
Full quotes on resignation: "My intention, as I said just now and I'm absolutely determined to do this, is deliver on the mandate of the people.
"We have a democracy in this country and the way we work is that when the people of Britain take a decision, parliamentarians are sworn to uphold that decision.
"That's what we all said we would do several times in the House of Commons, to respect the result of the 2016 referendum on the EU, when people voted by a very substantial majority to leave, we all said that we would do it.
"And that is what I want to do. And I have to say I think there is a stark contrast between my approach - and I hate to be party political, but that is the sad reality - the approach of Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party, because at the moment, he won't, not only are they voting to make it impossible for this country to decide on its own to leave the EU, but they're also making it impossible for the people of this country to have an election.
"I think he must be the first leader of the opposition in history to refuse to have an election. In fact, it seems to me to be a breach of his job description.
"My job is to get us out on 31 October and that is what we're going to do."
Mr Johnson has categorically ruled out the UK imposing any border checks between Northern Ireland and Ireland after Brexit.
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