Boris Johnson Commits to Sending Brexit Extension Letter, Court Told

(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Boris Johnson agreed to seek an extension to the Brexit deadline in the event that there’s no accord, a Scottish court was told, in a filing that appears to contradict his earlier statements that he would do no such thing.

Johnson made the commitment to request an extension by Oct. 19 as long as all the obligations under the so-called Benn Act are met, said Aidan O’Neill, an attorney for the government’s opponents. They are asking a court in Edinburgh to force him to obey the law.

Last month, Johnson said he’d “rather be dead in a ditch” than ask the European Union to delay Brexit again. Having staked his reputation on leaving by that date with or without a deal, Johnson has little room to manoeuvre. He’s lost his majority in Parliament, hasn’t won a vote in the legislature and suffered several court setbacks.

The undertaking came after Johnson had repeatedly refused to confirm that he would abide by the legislation seeking to prevent a no-deal Brexit.

A spokesman for Johnson referred to earlier comments made by the prime minister where he said the government will both obey the law and leave by October 31. O’Neill in court said such statements are irreconcilable.

In Edinburgh, the challengers, who include English tax lawyer Jolyon Maugham, are arguing that Johnson can’t be trusted. The repeated threats by Johnson and his cabinet to leave the EU by any means necessary means the court is allowed to force him to obey or face a fine or imprisonment, O’Neill said.

“We are concerned that those threatening words are shortly going to be translated into unlawful deeds,” O’Neill said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jonathan Browning in London at jbrowning9@bloomberg.net;Alastair Reed in Johannesburg at areed12@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anthony Aarons at aaarons@bloomberg.net, Christopher Elser

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