Parliament reconvened on Wednesday after the Supreme Court ruled that its suspension was unlawful. Boris Johnson cut a trip to New York for a UN summit short and headed straight to the House, where he said he believed “the court was wrong” to get involved in politics and urged Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to table a motion of no confidence to see who commands support. After his statement, Mr Corbyn had a chance to rebut, and the Prime Minister pulled no punches with his response.
Mr Johnson said he was “sad” the Labour conference was cut short this year due to the Supreme Court ruling.
He said: “I was rather sad that the Labour conference was interrupted but the ruling, because I was awe-struck by some of the things I heard, doubtless designed to obscure the inanity of his policy over Brexit.”
Mr Corbyn made some major new policy announcements during the conference, some of which have caused controversy already.
These include a pledge to move to a 32-hour working week within 10 years and to introduce free personal care for over-65s in England.
There were commitments to scrap prescription charges in England, to double GP training places, to require employers to offer flexible working for menopausal women, replace regulator Ofsted with a less “heavy-handed” body, and a commitment to the free movement of people.
But it was a proposal from the conference floor – calling for private schools to be integrated into the state sector and their assets redistributed – which caused the most controversy.
But on Wednesday, the Prime Minister ripped apart what he called the “communist fantasies pedalled by the opposition” with a scathing four-point tirade.
Mr Johnson said: “He wants to abolish fee-paying schools at the cost of 7billion pounds to the taxpayer; he wants a four-day work week cutting the incomes of the lowest-paid in this country; he wants to abolish Ofsted; now we hear he wants to abolish all immigration controls from the EU.”
Turning to the opposition leader’s dithering over a general election, he said: “I think there’s something slightly pitiful, in a way, about the Right Honourable Gentleman.
“It seems that he actually did want to call an election now.”
Mr Johnson said Mr Corbyn’s will was being blocked by his subordinates, comparing the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, to the Stasi, the brutal former East German secret service.
He said: “There was a passage in his speech calling for an election now, but it was censored by the ‘Stasi’ in the form of the shadow chancellor, or possibly the shadow lord chancellor.
“He’s being held captive by his colleagues. Why won’t they allow him to have an election, Mr Speaker?
“Are they terrified he might lose, or even more terrified by the remote possibility he might win?”
Mr Johnson called repeatedly for Mr Corbyn to table a motion of no confidence on Wednesday night.
Addressing the House, he said: “I say, it is time to get Brexit done.
“It’s time for this Parliament, finally, to take responsibility for its decisions.
“This Parliament must either stand aside and get Brexit done, or bring a vote of confidence and finally face the day of reckoning with the voters.”
