Boris Johnson ‘absolutely’ rules out an election or a second referendum as he says ‘the people want Brexit’

Boris Johnson fundamentally ruled out a general election or second referendum as he promised once more to “deliver” upon Brexit. 

The new Prime Minister, in his second full day in office, said he would “absolutely not” consider another major electoral event.

During a visit to Birmingham, he said: “The British people voted in 2015, in 2016, in 2017.

“What they want us to do is deliver on their mandate, come out of the EU on October 31.”

Commenting on potential votes, he said: “They don’t want another electoral event, they don’t want a referendum, they don’t want a general election.

“They want us to deliver.”

His comments come after the Tory leader clashed with European figureheads, as he insisted the Irish backstop had to be abolished for a Brexit deal to pass Parliament. 

In phone calls to high profile leaders French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, he set out that the only way to make progress on a deal is to “abolish the backstop”.

France’s Europe minister insisted there would be no changes to the withdrawal agreement. 

This followed Mr Johnson making the call to axe the backstop in the Commons, during his first speech to the House as PM on Thursday. 

On Wednesday, EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier branded his comments “combative” and labelled his stance “unacceptable”. 

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told Mr Johnson the current withdrawal agreement was the “only agreement possible”. 

Irish Tanaiste Simon Coveney accused the PM of having put the UK on a “collision course” with the EU.

This opposition from the EU to reopening the draft deal coupled with parliamentary resistance to a no-deal Brexit had fuelled speculation that Mr Johnson could go to the country in a bid to secure an outright majority in the Commons, speculation his latest comments appear to have quashed.

Mr Johnson refused to back down though, despite those setbacks, and doubled-down on his insistence the backstop be scrapped. 

The backstop is an insurance policy contained within the draft EU withdrawal treaty which would have kept Northern Ireland in line with EU regulations to avoid extra checks at the Irish border.

It has been frequently criticised as a potential threat to the integrity of the UK, while it was a longstanding point of contention during Theresa May’s premiership.