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| Brexit: Boris Johnson will send extension letter - court document | |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| Boris Johnson will send a letter to the EU asking for a Brexit delay if no deal is agreed by 19 October, according to government papers submitted to a Scottish court. | Boris Johnson will send a letter to the EU asking for a Brexit delay if no deal is agreed by 19 October, according to government papers submitted to a Scottish court. |
| The document was revealed as campaigners sought a ruling forcing the PM to comply with the Benn Act. | The document was revealed as campaigners sought a ruling forcing the PM to comply with the Benn Act. |
| Their QC said the submission contradicted statements by the prime minister last week in Parliament. | Their QC said the submission contradicted statements by the prime minister last week in Parliament. |
| Lawyers for the UK government will outline their case later on Friday. | Lawyers for the UK government will outline their case later on Friday. |
| Downing Street refused to comment on the ongoing legal case but stressed again that the UK would be leaving the EU on 31 October. | Downing Street refused to comment on the ongoing legal case but stressed again that the UK would be leaving the EU on 31 October. |
| The legal action has been initiated by businessman Dale Vince, QC Jo Maugham and SNP MP Joanna Cherry. | The legal action has been initiated by businessman Dale Vince, QC Jo Maugham and SNP MP Joanna Cherry. |
| They want the Court of Session, Scotland's highest court, to rule on the extent to which Mr Johnson is bound by the legislation passed by opposition MPs - the so-called Benn Act - which requires the government to request an extension to the 31 October Brexit deadline if a deal has not been signed off by Parliament by 19 October. | |
| Mr Johnson has said "we will obey the law, and will come out on 31 October" in any event, without specifying how he would achieve these apparently contradictory goals. | |
| There had been speculation Downing Street had identified a legal loophole to get around the Benn Act, named after Labour's Hilary Benn who spearheaded the law's passage through Parliament. | |
| Steve Baker MP, chairman of the European Research Group of Brexiteer Tories, said: "All this means is that government will obey the law. | |
| "It does not mean we will extend. It does not mean we will stay in the EU beyond 31 October. We will leave." |