Boris Johnson promised he would never delay Britain’s exit from the European Union, due on October 31.
Asked if he could promise to the British public that he would not go to Brussels and ask for another delay to Brexit, Johnson said: “Yes I can. I’d rather be dead in a ditch.”
“It achieves absolutely nothing. What on Earth is the point of further delay,” he added, speaking at a police station in northern England.
Johnson insisted Britain must leave the European Union on October 31, despite a defeat of his hard-line strategy at the hands of MPs.
“We must come out of the EU on October 31,” Johnson said.
Johnson’s government said it would make a second attempt next week to call an early general election to try to break the political deadlock over Brexit.
The day after MPs rejected the first attempt to call a snap poll, senior minister Jacob Rees-Mogg told MPs he would put forward a “motion relating to an early parliamentary election” to be voted on on Monday evening.
A similar move on Wednesday night failed after the main opposition Labour Party abstained.
Johnson called the election after MPs approved a bill that could undermine his threat to leave the European Union on October 31 without agreeing exit terms.
