Government admits it has ‘no plan’ if MPs block Brexit later this month

A cabinet minister has said the government has ‘no plan’ in the event Parliament blocks the UK from leaving the EU on October 31.

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick declined to say whether Boris Johnson would seek an extension to the current Brexit deadline if a deal is not agreed in time, which a recent law says he must.

Mr Jenrick said delivering Brexit at the end of the month is the ‘sole focus’ of ministers who would do ‘absolutely everything in our power’ to meet the deadline.

Boris Johnson recently revealed proposals for a new Brexit deal, which have had a mixed reception from EU leaders.

The European Commission said member states agreed the offer ‘[does] not provide a basis for concluding an agreement’ and postponed talks anticipated this weekend to Monday.

Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said a deal could be secured in the next two weeks but that the current proposals do not form the basis for ‘deeper negotiations’.

Latvia’s prime minister described the offer as a ‘basis for negotiations’ but said agreeing a deal is ‘fully dependent’ on the will of Mr Johnson.

Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte said ‘important questions remain’ over the proposals which he discussed with Mr Johnson on Saturday.

Legislation passed by opposition MPs last month compels the PM to ask for another delay if a deal is not secured by October 19.

Mr Jenrick told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: ‘We have no plan as to what might happen if Parliament doesn’t allow us to get Brexit done on October 31, because we intend to get it done on that date and that’s the sole focus of this Government at the moment.’

However, Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay appeared to confirm the Government will request the delay on BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.

Questioned about a legal document in which government lawyers accept the prime minister must comply with the legislation demanding an extension, he said: ‘If a commitment is given to the court, you abide by it.’

The document was presented to Scotland’s highest court as part of a legal action by anti-Brexit campaigners to force Mr Johnson to uphold the law.

Mr Barclay also appeared to suggest Downing Street could be more flexible over the proposal to give Northern Ireland a veto on plans for a single regulatory system on the island of Ireland after Brexit.

‘So the key is the principle of consent. Now, of course in the mechanism as part of the intensive negotiations, we can look at that and discuss that.’

Labour MP Lisa Nandy said the current proposal ‘stands virtually no chance of being accepted by the EU’ and is incompatible with international law.

She told Sky: ‘I would vote for a deal, but this is not a deal.’

‘This is a pre-election party-political broadcast from the Prime Minister, and the truth is that for all of the talk about getting Brexit done, we are further away from achieving a deal than we were two months ago when he became Prime Minister.’

Writing in The Sun on Sunday, Mr Johnson described his offer as a ‘practical compromise that gives ground where necessary’ and represents ‘jumping to the island in the middle of the river’.