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Boris Johnson has challenged opposition MPs to table a confidence motion in the government as he blasted the Supreme Court over its political intervention.
Prime Minister Mr Johnson said on Wednesday evening that opposition parties “have until the House rises today” to table the motion of no confidence “and finally face the day of reckoning with the voters”.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn rejected the invite, declaring: “If he wants an election, get an extension [to Article 50] and [then] let’s have an election.”
It comes after Mr Johnson was forced to return to the Commons after the Supreme Court ruled his prorogation of Parliament was unlawful.
Addressing a rowdy chamber, the Prime Minister said: “It would be a curious state of affairs indeed if Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition had every faith in the government of the day.
“So if in fact the party opposite does not in fact have confidence in the government, they will have a chance to prove it.
“They have until the House rises today to table a motion of no confidence in the government, and we can have that vote tomorrow.
“Or if any of the other smaller parties fancy a go, they can table that motion and we’ll give you time for that vote.
“Will they have the courage to act? Or will they refuse to take responsibility yet again and do nothing but dither and delay?”
Mr Johnson had begun his Commons speech by saying of the Supreme Court decision: “I thought the court was wrong to pronounce on what is essentially a political question at a time of great national controversy.”
Opposition parties had made clear they will not back an election until they are sure a no-deal Brexit is off the table.
Rejecting the “invite” to table the confidence motion, Mr Corbyn called Mr Johnson “a dangerous Prime Minister who thinks he is above the law” and is “not fit for the office he beholds”.
Mr Corbyn, referring to the Supreme Court decision, went on to say Mr Johnson “should have done the honourable thing and resigned”. He added: “The government has failed to silence our democracy.”
The Labour leader also said: “No Prime Minister is not above the law [sic]. No one can trust this Prime Minister: not on Iran, not on Thomas Cook, not on climate change, not on Brexit.
“Quite simply, for the good of this country, he should go.”
Jo Swinson, leader of the resurgent Liberal Democrats, called for Mr Johnson to apologise for “misleading the Queen, misleading the country and illegally shutting down our democracy”.
Ms Swinson, who oversaw the party’s policy to cancel Brexit completely, added “even my five-year-old knows that if you do something wrong, you have to say sorry”.
But Mr Johnson fired back: “One of the actions for which she might wish to take responsibility was writing to the president of the European Commission [Jean-Claude Juncker] actively encouraging him not to do a deal with this country!”
Downing Street said that if the opposition parties did not take up the Prime Minister’s offer to table a no-confidence motion, the government would take it as a mandate to press on with Brexit.
“They have an opportunity tomorrow, should they take it, to have a confidence vote,” the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said.
“If not then it will be taken as confidence in the government and the government will hopefully be allowed to get on with implementing its strategy and delivering Brexit on October 31.”
