Boris Johnson news - LIVE: PM refuses to rule out holding election after Halloween in order to first force through no-deal Brexit
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Boris Johnson refused to rule out holding a general election after 31 October to force through a no-deal Brexit if he loses a no-confidence vote in the Commons.
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said he “would be sending Jeremy Corbyn in a cab to Buckingham Palace to say ‘we’re taking over’”, if the prime minister ignores a vote of no confidence.
MPs opposed to no deal are reportedly considering a move to have parliament sit during conference season in a bid to pass legislation to extend Article 50.
In a Facebook live video broadcast from his office at Number 10, the prime minister announced the government would make changes to immigration rules to attract more scientists from around the world.
His comments came after he visited the Centre for Fusion Energy in Culham, where he was told they were "only a few years away from being able to provide UK-made fusion reactors".
And Scottish Labour sent a warning to Jeremy Corbyn expressing "serious concerns" over deepening splits on the party's stance on independence.
Please allow a moment for the liveblog below to load:
As the Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar pointed out earlier this week, the Brexit process doesn’t actually end on 31 October, regardless of whether Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings get their way on a no-deal exit.
Felicity Williams explains why, at some stage, the prime minister needs to reach out to the EU.
Boris Johnson supported sending British troops to Yemen when he was foreign secretary in a mission aimed at controlling a strategically-vital port The Independent has learnt.
Now that Johnson is at No 10 the option “remains very much on the table”, according to government officials.
Our defence editor Kim Sengupta has the details.
How could Scotland secure a second independence referendum? Read our explainer on the process behind Indyref2:
This from Reuters on Boris Johnson’s senior adviser Dominic Cummings:
“Cummings, the architect of the ‘Vote Leave’ campaign in the 2016 Brexit referendum, says little in public. Yet comments by two sources who worked with him at Vote Leave, his essays, blogs and reports from insiders over the last few years suggest a policy of moving fast and bypassing others in pursuit of a goal.
“The two sources, one supporter and one critic, say the threat of a no-deal Brexit is a plan by Cummings designed to force the EU to compromise on the departure deal agreed by Johnson’s predecessor Theresa May, and to pin the blame on the bloc if no new agreement can be reached.”
YouGov has crunched the numbers on Boris Johnson's popularity and come up with some interesting findings:
The pound is set to fall even further as the likelihood increases of a no-deal Brexit that will be disastrous for the UK economy, according to a poll.
Sterling has already suffered a rout since Boris Johnson became prime minister on 24 July, falling to a two-and-a-half year low against the dollar of $1.2080 last week.
Analysts polled by Reuters predicted further declines to between $1.17 and $1.20 as the 31 October deadline day approaches.
Follow the latest updates on our business liveblog here.
The latest Westminster voting intention figures from YouGov give the Tories a nine-point lead over Labour, on 31 per cent to 22 per cent, while the Lib Dems are fast approaching Mr Corbyn's party on 21 per cent.
New statement from the Scottish Labour party following the row over John McDonnell's comments on another Scottish independence referendum.
Boris Johnson has been speaking about Brexit this lunchtime.
Asked if he lost a confidence vote in Parliament if would he wait until the UK had left the EU on 31 October before holding a general election, the prime minister refused to rule out forcing through a no-deal Brexit.
“We are going to leave the European Union on October 31 which is what the people of this country voted for, it’s what MPs voted for, and that's what I think parliamentarians of this country should get on and do.
“I think that MPs should get on and deliver on what they have promised over and over and over again to the people of this country, they will deliver on the mandate of 2016 and leave the EU on October 31.”
Boris Johnson has also been talking about knife crime this lunchtime, offering his “sympathies” to the police officer injured in the attack in Leyton.
He said: “What this underscores for me is the bravery of our police, people who actually go towards danger to keep us safer.”
Mr Johnson added: “Also what it shows to me is the vital importance of investing in policing, that’s why we're putting another 20,000 officers out on the street, and giving officers the legal powers and support that they need to tackle knife crime and other violent crime.”
Asked what his government is going to do to tackle knife crime, the PM said: “I think you've got to give officers the confidence ... that when they ask somebody coming towards them who may be carrying a knife, which is a danger to them and to everybody around them, they have to have the power, the confidence, do that emotionally challenging thing and do stop and search.
“We did a huge amount of that 10 years ago, we already got knife crime and the murder rate down, I think that’s got to be part of the solution now, as well as having tough sentencing for those who carry knives.”
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