LONDON • British Prime Minister Boris Johnson flew back from the United Nations General Assembly in New York into a major crisis that has sparked calls for his resignation just weeks before Britain is due to leave the European Union on Oct 31.

Despite the stunning rebuke from the highest court in the land, the Conservative leader continues to insist he will take Britain out of the bloc next month even if he cannot agree on exit terms with Brussels.

However, Attorney-General Geoffrey Cox told MPs that the government would abide by a law passed this month demanding Brexit be delayed to avoid a “no-deal” exit.

Mr Cox did not explain how the government could do so and still keep its promise.

Mr Cox was summoned to the House of Commons to answer questions about Tuesday’s court judgment until Mr Johnson – who only landed mid-morning – could set out his next steps later in the day.

The government’s top lawyer said ministers respected the historic ruling that Mr Johnson’s suspension or prorogation of Parliament for five weeks until Oct 14 was unlawful.

“We lost, we got it wrong,” Mr Cox said. He suggested that in response, the government would try for a third time to call a snap election to try to resolve the political impasse over Brexit.

The leader of the main opposition Labour Party, Mr Jeremy Corbyn, has called on Mr Johnson to resign following the court ruling.

However, he told the BBC he would not call a confidence vote in Parliament until the possibility of a no-deal Brexit has been eliminated.

“Our first priority is to prevent a no-deal exit from the European Union on Oct 31,” he said.

Headlines from British media 

A chastened Boris Johnson will fly back to London today to face calls for his resignation after the Supreme Court dealt a severe blow to his authority and his attempt to stop MPs from holding him to account on Brexit.

FINANCIAL TIMES

He misled the Queen, the people and Parliament.

THE GUARDIAN

PM flies back to chaos.

THE TIMES

There’s a special place in history waiting for you, Prime Minister.

THE MIRROR

Boris blasts: Who runs Britain?

THE MAIL

Mr Johnson, who took office only in July, insists that he suspended Parliament to allow his new go-vernment to launch a fresh legislative programme.

But critics accuse him of trying to silence MPs, the majority of whom object to his threat to leave the EU without a deal.

In rowdy scenes in the packed House of Commons, Mr Cox accused MPs of trying to block Brexit at every turn.

He charged Labour with being “cowardly” for having twice rejected Mr Johnson’s call for fresh elections to resolve the political impasse.

“This Parliament is a dead Parliament,” he said.

He added: “This Parliament should have the courage to face the electorate, but it won’t.

“It won’t because so many of them are really all about preven-ting us leaving the European Union.” After the court judgment, Mr Johnson called again for an election, hoping to take advantage of opinion polls showing that voters like his tough Brexit stance.

Mr Cox said there would be an “election motion that will be coming before the House shortly”.

However, a snap election requires support of two-thirds of MPs – and opposition parties prefer to keep Mr Johnson on a tight leash.

Veteran Labour MP Barry Sheerman accused the government of having “no shame”.

“This government cynically manipulated the prorogation to shut down this House so that it couldn’t work as a democratic assembly,” he said.

The ruling is a hammer blow to Mr Johnson’s authority and comes after a series of defeats in Parliament.

MPs rushed through a law this month demanding the Prime Minister delay Brexit if he cannot get a deal by next month.

Ministers have suggested they will try to get around the law, but asked directly if the government would abide by it, Mr Cox said: “Yes.”

Yet Mr Johnson continues to insist that he will leave the EU on Oct 31 – for which he needs to get a Brexit deal.

He is seeking to amend the terms struck by his predecessor Theresa May, which have been rejected by MPs three times. But EU leaders are not optimistic.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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